


Trouble with Triples

by MsPerception427



Series: Triad of Awesome [2]
Category: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Genre: Aaron Cross Feels, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Clint Barton & William Brandt & Aaron Cross are Triplets, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Gen, Hurt Aaron Cross, Hurt Clint Barton, Hurt William Brandt, Jasper Doesn't Get Paid Enough For This, Jasper Sitwell is Not Hydra, Natasha is scary, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), Team as Family, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Still Does What He Wants, Whump, William Brandt Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-25 10:27:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 41,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7529170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsPerception427/pseuds/MsPerception427
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Sequel to Gemini Protocol* Six months ago, Avenger and SHIELD agent Clint Barton and former IMF agent, William Brandt, learned that they were only the living subjects of a genetic experiment meant to replicate the original super soldier project. Six minutes ago, they learned that their dead brother wasn't quite dead. And he's had some added enhancements. There was never just two.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. All for One… and One for All

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome back to all those that are returning from the first part. To any new people… you might want to read the first story. I would say that this could stand alone but I would be lying. And I'm trying to quit that habit. Anyway, this is just the beginning. I took the epilogue from Gemini and added a bit more to it. Not enough for a standalone chapter, so here we are. I hope that you enjoy.

Technology was an amazing thing. It saved lives. It gave man the ability to reach the stars and beyond. It also allowed Phil Coulson to see every annoyed facial feature on the face of one Jasper Sitwell despite the fact that the younger man was currently in Manila. Phil was able to see his protégé suffer from the air conditioned comfort of his own office at Stark Tower. Technology was pretty awesome.

"How the mission going?"

Jasper's right eye twitched minutely but he gave no further indication that he was annoyed. He didn't need to. Phil knew he was but he also knew that Jasper brought this upon himself. So his sympathy was a little a low at the moment.

"The warehouse remains active but thus far there have been no signs of suspicious activities," Jasper reported. He fidgeted with the collar of his shirt. Phil could see little beads of sweat pooling on his skin in crystal clear high definition. Jasper noticed his attention and glared. "Are you sure Stark's information is accurate?"

"It's Stark. He might be functionally insane and permanently stuck in his teenage years but I don't doubt his research. Especially not when it comes to something like this."

This was the subject of Jasper's mission. A month ago, information was leaked about a project funded by the CIA. It was a huge mess with almost every intelligence agency in the game up in arms. When the information first reached SHIELD, Nick (and pretty much everyone) immediately thought of the ever present pain in the rear super soldier experiments. Needless to say that particular subject always tended to bring out the crazy in most SHIELD personnel and that was before the discovery that one of their own was born because of a failed experiment with the super soldier serum. Now everyone was chomping at the bit to get to the bottom of Operation Treadstone. Especially the Avengers as there wasn't a single one of the founding members (aside from Thor) whose origin didn't have some connection to that cursed formula. Phil was still waiting for the next plot twist that would reveal some previously unknown, unimaginable, and implausible connection between Thor and the super soldier experiment.

Or rather Phil sincerely hoped it was Thor's turn next because he really didn't think that Clint could handle anymore curveballs at this point. He was holding up relatively well given the sudden brother overload (not just Stark's continuing efforts at adopting them both). But Phil worried what one more blow would do to the archer's psyche. And what affected Clint also impacted Will. They really were two halves of the same coin. How they functioned thirty years without each other was a mystery to everyone as they hadn't spent more than a few days away from each in the six months they'd been reunited. And even when they were physically apart, there was still the connection between them that kept them together in some capacity. It was a fascinating bond.

"You've got that look in your eye again. You must be thinking about a certain bird brained archer and his much better half. So how are the Doublemint Twins anyway?"

A lesser man than Phil would've been fooled by the flippant tone. But Phil didn't become known as Fury's good eye without being excellent at seeing between the lines. Despite how much Jasper protested it, he cared about Clint. And that meant that by extension, he cared about Will. The two were a package deal. And Jasper had never really been good about not caring about the archer despite his many, many arguments to the contrary.

"They miss you too, you know?"

"I definitely don't miss the brat or his devious twin. You know the only reason I even agreed to this mission was because it got me as far away from them as possible without having to quit SHIELD. But just so we're both clear, if Fury hadn't come through with the Manila mission, that would've been an option for discussion."

"I think you may be exaggerating the situation a bit. They're not that bad."

"Separately, no. Well, actually that's just Will. Clint is pretty much terrible on his own too. But together…. they're menaces. Last month, Will stood there and helped Clint climb the Statue of Liberty…. From the outside! With a blindfold! Will is the one that put the blindfold on the idiot!"

Phil smirked. That was one of Clint's lesser intelligent moments though Ethan did share some of the blame in that one. All of the IMF agents were told in the very beginning that under no circumstances was Thor, Clint or Tony to ever be dared to do anything. Ever. None of them had an ounce of common sense between them. No matter how impossible or deadly it might seem to a normal person, they would see it as a challenge. Impulse control was not one of their strengths. But to someone familiar with the Avengers, it was just another thing. The man on the screen opposite him was more than familiar with that truth.

"Okay, so he's a little eccentric."

"And he lives to annoy any SHIELD employee that isn't named Phil Coulson or Nick Fury. And Will isn't much better. He just goes a long with whatever insane thought pops into Clint's head. So no, I've earned my break from the kid. I'll catch up with him in a month. I'm sure he'll be fine until then. And you'd let me know if something changed, right?"

Phil laughed. "Careful, Jasper. Your caring is starting to show."

Jasper opened his mouth to retort but a voice off-screen commanded his attention. He held up a finger to Phil indicating that he would only take a minute. He took three and when he came back his face was even more flushed than before. The subtle tick in his right eye that was definitely Barton induced was even more pronounced.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me, Phil? How could you neglect to tell me that one of your twins is running loose in Manila?! Its Clint isn't it? That's why you didn't tell me. I know he's your favorite and what not but I thought you would at least have the decency to give me a heads up."

"Jasper, what are you talking about? Clint is right…."

The door to his office slammed open at that moment revealing an incredibly pissed off twin. Judging from the tie hanging loosely around his neck, Phil was going on record by saying it was Will. Especially since the other was currently in the vent just above his head.

"Come out now or I swear I will drag you out by that stupid fat head of yours!" Will hissed, glaring up at said vent. There was a muffled noise that somehow Will interpreted as a response. "I don't care if we're identical. Clearly we don't have identical brains. Mine tells me to stay in bed when I have a concussion. Yours tells you to go crawling through the vents! Now get down!" Another muffled sound. "Fine then. I'm coming up there!"

Phil could only watch in silent amusement as Will nosily dragged a chair from across the room until it was under the vent he was yelling at. True to his word, he climbed onto the chair and stretched up to reach the very loose vent cover. There was a less muffled response this time as a head of dark blonde hair appeared in Will's hands.

"Ouch! That hurts!"

"Well then next time listen to me!" Will hissed. It didn't escape Phil's attention, however, that Will was a lot gentler as Clint slid out of the vent. He stepped off the chair and helped his brother to sit down. Once Clint was settled, Will squeezed his shoulder. "You need to stop escaping from Medical."

"It's boring. And that nurse Tony hired is a Nazi. Like seriously, I think she might actually have been a Nazi. She's old enough."

"So not the point," Will murmured. He pointed at Phil. "And you. You know you're only enabling his delinquency."

"Worrisome bitch," Clint muttered loud enough for Will to hear.

"Reckless asshole," Will said in the same annoyed, yet affectionate tone.

"Uh," Jasper started, pulling all attention to the forgotten screen. "If they're both there then we have a problem."

"What now?" Clint groused, rubbing his no doubt aching head. Will smacked his hand away as it strayed towards the bloodstained white bandage on his forehead. Clint frowned before redirecting his glare in Jasper's direction. "What's got your panties in a bunch this time?"

Jasper's right eye twitched again even as he held up a piece of paper with two pictures printed on it. It was an APB for a man and a woman. The woman was a pretty brunette that Phil was certain he'd seen before and recently. But it was the male that caught his attention. All too familiar bluish eyes stared out from the paper Jasper held up. The same dirty blond hair. The same exact nose.

"Not again!" Clint and Will groused in unison. Phil could only agree. Didn't they go through this same thing only six months ago? Things were only now starting to settle down. He could only hope this was another doppelganger (although the world did not need another Jason Walsh, despite what Clint thought). Although with the way that Phil's luck ran, this was going to end up being by the byproduct of some genetic experiment to replicate Project Rebirth. Again.

"Stark, Banner, get in here."

A few minutes passed before the door opened once again. This time a worried and frazzled looking Bruce followed by a calmer Tony and Benji. Oh, perfect. Phil made a mental note to check for any burned or exploded objects in the Tower. Bruce growled as he caught sight of the twins.

"Nurse Turner is going crazy looking for you," he pointed out as he stalked over to a not at all guilty looking Clint. "If you don't stop escaping, I'm going to follow through on previous suggestions to sedate you. I don't care if you slip into a coma. It might be an improvement on your current lack of self preservation."

"I meant to ask what you did to yourself this time," Jasper commented. Clint rolled his eyes and then winced as he was reminded as to why that was a bad idea.

"Latest alien menace," Will replied, rubbing circles on Clint's back. "Everything was going good until Steve's shield sliced off one of the thing's tentacles. It landed on Clint and knocked him off a building. It's okay though. Steve broke his fall. And his head."

Jasper snickered, earning a dark glare from all parties assembled. He scoffed. "That one goes in the book, birdie."

"Right next to heat stroke on a BS mission in the Philippines," Clint retorted, glaring at the screen. "Have fun staring at a factory!" With that said he reached over and turned off the computer screen. "So, who's up for another fun filled adventure in genetics?"  
__________________________________________________________________________________  
Half an hour later, Will was seated on the very comfortable sofa in Phil's office with Clint beside him. A copy of the APB was resting on his thigh. Across the room, the others were doing the same. There was a heavy silence in the room as they all contemplated the pictures. Will had a feeling that something was going to happen. Things had been relatively calm in the six months since the IMF agents met the Avengers. Or as a calm as it can be living with a bunch of superheroes and Ethan.

But Will had a feeling that the calm was over. Something told him that everything was about to change but he couldn't get a sense of whether this was a good or bad thing. Either way, it made him feel itchy. It also made him even more hypersensitive about his twin's wellbeing. He always on edge when Clint got hurt during a mission (which seemed to be just about every time) but between this new look alike and the feeling of wrongness, Will felt even more aware of Clint.

Almost as if on cue, Will felt Clint list further into his side. He didn't complain. He simply shifted his weight on the chair to help the archer settle into a more comfortable position. He eyed the bandage on Clint's head which Bruce changed. The bleeding seemed to have stopped at least. But the fact that he was so restless meant that the pain hadn't.

"How's the head?" he already anticipated the flippant response. Clint had a tendency to brush everything off as being fine or okay. Will was convinced that one day something was going to come along and rip his brother's arm and the idiot was only going to brush it off as a scratch. So he already knew it was pointless asking Clint how his head felt. He was just going to lie. But this time Will was wrong.

"Hurts," Clint murmured, shifting his head against Will's shoulder. Will raised an eyebrow. Clint just admitted pain. That never happened. The concern skyrocketed. "It's too hot, Will."

Will peered down at the thin t-shirt his twin was wearing, frowning at what he saw. He could see the sweat forming on Clint's skin. Could he be sick too? He brushed the back of his palm against Clint's forehead. He felt warmer than usual. The frown deepened. Clint wasn't showing any signs of a fever when he was initially checked into Medical earlier that afternoon. This was sudden. That feeling of wrong grew until it was suffocating him. He opened his mouth to call Bruce but Phil spoke up first.

"Now I remember where I've seen her," Phil said. "She was on the news. She was the only survivor in that laboratory shooting a few days ago. Seems strange that she lived through that and now she's on the CIA's hit list in Manila."

"Wait, a second I know this woman too," Bruce announced. "Her name is Marta Shearing. Actually she's Dr. Marta Shearing. We almost worked together on a project about seven years ago."

"Almost?" Tony questioned. "How do you almost work on a project? Especially you. It's science. That's pretty much your weakness. There isn't anything you wouldn't do for science."

"Except genetic experimentation on actual human test subjects," Bruce clarified. "I won't do that. I was interested in working on that project because as you all know Erskine and his formula was a particularly interesting subject for me. This project was promising to capitalize on his work and improve it. I was involved in the early planning stages of the project but I left when they started talking about using human test subjects. Dr. Shearing was young. From what I remembered, she had just finished her doctorates. She was still easily influenced. She couldn't be persuaded to leave. So I left her there. And then I went to work on another project with the super solider serum. We all know how that turned out."

"Yeah, big and green," Tony acknowledged. "So what was the name of this project anyway? Not the gamma radiation FUBAR but the one that Shearing worked on."

"Uh, it was….." Bruce trailed off as he thought about it. Will felt Clint's snort of amusement and was relieved that his brother's sudden temperature was decreasing. He felt cooler. "Oh, I remember. It was called Outcome. Operation Outcome."

Will's eyes narrowed even as Tony let out an audible gasp. Still it was Benji that voiced their thoughts. "Wasn't Outcome one of the names you came across when you were researching Treadstone?"

"Yeah, that's actually the folder where I found the information about the lab in Manila." Tony ran a hand across his face. "So there is another guy that looks like Clint and Will running around with a geneticist that worked on a secret government project that was experimenting with creating super soldiers? Anyone else feeling a serious case of déjà vu right now?"

"I'm just amazed that there is a seemingly never ending supply of men that actually look like the Wonder Twins over here," Benji commented, shaking his head. "And it seems like they have the same penchant for finding trouble too. What are the odds?"

"Better than you think," Clint spoke up, sitting upright a little more. "There's the creepy bomb expert in Afghanistan. There's also Walsh, who's not that bad as long as you don't eat his food. There's also that dude that thinks he's a vampire. Oh, and that guy that used to be SWAT and freed the French terrorist dude. Although now that I think about it that Hondo guy reminds me of Fury. Tony, did Hondo remind you of Fury?"

"Yeah, now that I think about it. Big, scary and kinda mean," Tony nodded. "Yeah, he's Fury's clone. Or his Life Model Decoy." He turned to Phil with wide eyes.

"That's still not an actual thing, Stark," Phil said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Will sympathized. Or rather he would've if he hadn't enabled Clint's medical phobia and let him hide in the vents.

"And there's also…." Clint trailed off as Will placed a finger against his lips.

"Hey, stop. Benji meant that rhetorically."

Clint's eyes widened slightly even as he slowly nodded. "Oh, sorry."

"S'okay," Will assured him, patting him on the leg. He knew that between the concussion and the new look-alike, Clint was feeling more than a little out of it, hence the uncharacteristic rambling. Will wondered if his brother was also picking up on his own feelings of uneasiness. Either way, he didn't want Clint overloading his already overtaxed brain. He watched as Clint settled back on the sofa, closing his eyes.

Will picked up the paper that set off this latest bout of turmoil and craziness. The man really did look like them. Will never really spent a large amount of time studying his face in the mirror prior to reuniting with his twin. But ever since then, his own face was the most familiar sight in the world to him. The face on the paper was similar but there were slight differences. His face was slightly rounder and the eyes were a little harder. There were also a few scars on his face that would indicate some serious trauma. But the one that caught his attention was the faint, silvery line right about the man's left eyebrow.

"Mirror images," Will murmured. He looked at Clint beside him, specifically to the same sliver of a scar above his right eyebrow. He glanced down at the picture. The same exact eyes stared back at him. They were the same eyes. There was darkness in them but they were the same eyes he looked at every single day. "Oh, no."

Clint cracked an eye open. "What?"

Will shook his head even as memories flooded his mind. Of a smaller version of the man beside him giggling that he had something in common with their beloved older brother. While Will and Clint were identical in looks and voice, Clint and Kenneth would both sport the same scar on opposite sides of their face. They were mirror images of one another. Will's shaky hand traced the scar on the picture. Clint grabbed a hold of his hand, stilling the nervous movements.

"Will, you're starting to freak me out a little here. What's wrong?"

"Uh, I think…. I think that this might be Kenny."

Clint's hand fell to the side even as he stared at the side of Will's face. "Maybe it's the concussion speaking but that's not funny."

"Wasn't trying to be," Will replied, resuming his idle tracing of the faint line on the man's face. He then lifted the same hand and traced the matching scar on Clint's eyebrow. "Mirror images."

Clint paled even as his fingers took over for Will's, touching both scars. "Oh my god."

"Hold up," Tony called over to them. "Because it sounds like you're saying that you think that this guy is your brother, who last time I checked is dead."

"I know it sounds crazy and impossible but… yes. I think that this is Kenny," Will replied, firmly. "He's not just some random guy. It's him, Clint. I know it."

Clint didn't say anything. He just kept staring at the picture with wide eyes. But Clint and Will had a connection that went beyond words. He knew what his brother was saying without hearing the words. It's because he was also thinking it. There was always a latent connection between the brothers. Once they were reunited, that connection simply became more obvious. There was always a part of Will that thought something was missing. Once he was back with Clint, that piece was quieted… but it was still there. That was the same part of him that was feeling uneasy since the minute he laid eyes on the picture.

"It's him," Clint whispered, rubbing his forearm absently. Will was familiar with his brother's gestures. The archer had an almost amusing avoidance of needles. Whenever he was forced to get a shot, he would walk around rubbing his arm in the exact same way, whining to anyone that would listen about how it hurt. But Will knew that Clint hadn't had any injections recently. So why was he rubbing his arm? This was getting weird.

"Are you both certain?" Phil asked. He had wheeled his chair over to the sofa and was studying both of them carefully. Clint and Will exchanged glances before Will nodded for them both. Phil sighed, sitting back in his seat. He looked to the others gathered in the room. "Well, you heard them. Pack your bags. Looks like Jasper is about to have some company in Manila. We've got a triplet to find."

"Oh, Four Eyes is going to love this!" Tony grinned broadly. "At least we'll get some entertainment out of all this." Will couldn't help but agree. This was going to be fun.   
__________________________________________________________________________________  
This was not fun. This was the opposite of fun. This was downright misery and agony and…. A whole bunch of other words that were escaping him at the moment. But as soon as he didn't have a fever so high he was pretty sure he could feel his brain liquefy, he would get back to describing the abject wrongness that was his current situation. He would rather be shot than go through this. This being the side effects of the viral injection he took just an hour ago. This being the cold clammy skin that totally belied the fact that he also felt like his body was on fire.

This was the fact that Aaron Cross was sick. He was really sick. He knew it was going to hit him hard but he really wasn't expecting this. Now that he knew what symptoms he would be experiencing, he could vividly remembered the bout of sickness that left him wishing he would just die and get it over with already. But he didn't die then, and he was determined not to die now. Still, they barely made it out of the warehouse housing the virus before he felt the first symptoms. They made it as far as the city limits when he finally admitted to himself and to Marta that he couldn't go on any further. And Marta, bless her soul, merely nodded and said that she would try to find them a place for the night.

He shifted against the wall she left him propped up against and coughed. He could feel the virus spreading through his veins, changing him. He could feel it making him better. If he managed to live though this, Kenneth Kitsom was officially history and Aaron Cross who wasn't twelve IQ points below Army standard would live in his place. Dumb Kenny was gone. He didn't know what would happen to him, or Marta, after all of this was over but he did know he was never going back to the CIA nor would he ever go back to Berwin. He was free of both of shackles for good. But still… something was missing.

Aaron struggled to keep alert but his mind kept drifting. It was what made him stop in the first place. He was supposed to be keeping his attention on staying one step ahead of the goons that Byer was sure to be sending after his ass. But instead, his mind kept pushing images of a little boy in a lab playing with blocks….. He snapped his eyes open, unaware of when he closed them in the first place. The virus was taking him under fast. This wasn't good. This was…..

_"It's no good!" Kenneth muttered as he stared at his latest creation. The bright, multicolored slabs of plastic taunted him. It was all wrong but he didn't understand how. He just wanted it to be right. He needed it to be right and it wasn't. It was all wrong._

_"Kenny?" a small voice piped up to his left. "What's wrong?"_

_He didn't need to look to know that even though he only heard Will speaking, Clint wasn't far behind him. They were always together because they were twins. And because Clint couldn't always hear them. Will told Kenny that it was his responsibility to look after Clint because he was the oldest. But Kenny was older than Will. Didn't that mean that he was supposed to look after them too? Nurse Mary told him that it was okay that he didn't always look out for them because he was sick. But he didn't want to be sick. He didn't want to be different than his brothers. He didn't want to be wrong… but he was._

_"It's all wrong!" Kenny hissed through clenched teeth. Small fists reached up to his hair, pulling at clumps of the same dirty blonde hair the boys behind him were sporting. "Everything is wrong. I'm wrong."_

_"What's wrong with it?" Will asked, stepping closer. He had his head tilted to the side, staring at the block structure on the table. "It looks nice."_

_"No, it's not nice. It's wrong. Wrong and stupid. And sick! Like me!"_

_He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Clint standing beside him. His matching eyes were wide even as he shook his head. "Not wrong," he said, carefully and slowly. Kenny looked to see that his hearing aids were out. That explained why he was holding onto Will so tightly. He was always clingy when he couldn't hear everything. "You're good."_

_Kenny shook his head. He tried to sign like Dr. Brandt taught them but his fingers were slow and clumsy. Will was able to learn it quickly but Kenny was always behind. He tried anyway. He tried to tell his little brother what he wanted to say but the frustration was building. There were tears stinging in his eyes. He wished he could just be normal… like Will. But he wasn't. He was the dumb one._

_"You're not dumb," Clint said, staring at him. "You're not wrong. You're Kenny. You're good." He stepped closer to the table with the blocks that started this whole mess. He tilted his head to the side, mimicking Will's stance. "You're right. It's wrong."_

_"Huh?" Will murmured._

_"Yup, it's wrong!" Clint declared. "But that just means we have to start again!"_

_Kenny felt the tears recede as he looked at the youngest brother. "We?"_

_"We can make it better together," Clint promised, solemnly. "You're not wrong. You just need help."_

_"Help?"_

_"And that's what we're here for!" Will added with a bright smile. Clint managed to replicate the same smile. Kenny would never know that he was sporting a slightly dimmer version of that smile on his own face._

_He watched as Clint gleefully knocked over the offensive structure. Will glared at his twin, even as he picked up the stray blocks that had fallen to the floor and put them back on the table. Clint merely laughed at his attempts at creating order, occasionally knocking a block on the floor. Kenny laughed because Clint laughed. His little brother didn't laugh nearly as much as he should. He felt happier hearing him laugh._

_Half an hour later the three boys sat staring at their joint effort. To be honest, it really didn't look that much different than the one Kenny built before. Will admitted that he was working based off the original design. Clint kept getting distracted by the idea of tossing the blocks at the various staff members who walked around the room they were playing in. So far his aim was true and he nailed about four disgruntled nurses and one doctor. But even though it looked the same, it felt… better._

_"It feels good," Kenny announced._

_"That's because we helped," Clint said, nudging him with his shoulder with one hand. The other was pulling at his newly replaced hearing aids. Naturally, Will was smacking his hand away a second later. "We can do anything when we're together."_

_"Yeah," Kenny whispered, looking fondly on his bickering brothers. "Yeah, we can. Like that book that Nurse Mary reads to us at night."_

_"Oh the one with the swords and stuff!" Clint smiled. "I like that one."_

_"All for one and one for all?" Will tried out the phrase. Kenny nodded. "That is us. We're better together."_

"Aaron?"

He gasped, eyes snapping open once more to see Marta's concerned face watching him warily. Judging by the tightness in her face, she probably called his name a few more times than either of them should feel comfortable with. He swallowed against the lump in his throat that had less to do with the virus wreaking havoc with his system and more to do with the dream…. or was it a memory? It felt too real to be a dream but he was an only child… wasn't he?

"Aaron, did you hear me? I said that they had a room available. Can you walk?"

He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. He knew it failed when the tightness in her face grew. "I don't really think I have a choice," he tried again to lighten the mood. "I don't know about you but I definitely don't feel like spending the night out here."

Marta glanced over his shoulder at the street gambling going on behind him. She mustered a much more believable smile and shook her head. "No, I don't suppose I want that either. Come on, I'll help you. We can move faster together."

His already racing heart skipped a beat with that one word but he ignored it in favor of putting an arm around Marta's shoulders. He leaned heavily on her, concentrating on every step with razor sharp focus. He almost groaned and called it quits when he saw the steps leading up to the apartment building. Of all the dangers and traps set for him on this whole excursion into insanity, he never anticipated stairs as being the one that did him in… but there they were.

"You can do this, Aaron," Marta whispered. Her arms tightened around his waist even as she guided him to the stairs. "We've made it this far. We can make it."

He nodded tightly and let her walk them up the stairs. It was a battle but it was one that he won. As soon as he was feeling less like death, he was going to destroy those miserable stairs. Or maybe not. Simple, petty destruction was more Clint's thing…. Clint who wasn't real. He was starting to get concerned with the frequency he was having these… hallucinations. They were becoming his reality and that wasn't good. Still….

"Doc?"

"Yes?" Marta sounded somewhat out breath as she continued to shoulder most of his weight on their shambling zombie like walk to the room where they would be spending the night. "We're almost there."

"I know. I mean, that's not it. It's just… you remember my file?"

Marta tensed somewhat. He knew that this was a sensitive subject for her. She really was a good person at heart but until he saved her life from gun toting assassins, he was just Operative Five. He was a number and not a name. That was changing for her. She was starting to see the men behind the files. He didn't know what happened with the other operatives but he got the feeling that the coming to terms process for Marta would take more time than they had at the moment. In the meantime, he was just hoping that she managed to remember something about him… other than just his number.

"Yes," she mumbled after a long silence. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you think that… could I have been experimented on... like genetically... before Outcome?"

Marta actually stopped to think about that question. Aaron was happy for several reasons. The most pressing being that he wasn't actually sure he could keep going. Though the room was apparently only twenty feet away, it felt like it was more like 20 miles away. The second reason was the hope that she remembered something about him. Something that could help him center his reality again. Because while it very well could be the fever playing tricks on him, there was something in him that wanted to believe there were identical faced men out there waiting for him.

"Well, it's hard to say. But out of all of the other sub…. other operatives, you have demonstrated more impressive results all around. Both physically and mentally. It's almost like the virus enhanced something that was already dormant in you." she peered at him from behind a fringe of dark brown hair. "Do you think you were subjected to genetic experiments before Outcome recruited you?"

Aaron shook his head. "I actually don't know. It's just that I keep having this dream..."

The lines by her eyes tightened again and he promptly shut up. He was tired of worrying her. She had done so much for him already. The least he could was stop giving her reason to think he was completely over the bend. He forced a smile on his face and resumed his shuffling steps towards the door. Marta kept pace beside with her arms still wrapped around him, keeping him close and steady. Because they were going to make it through this together. He glared at the door that didn't seem to be getting any closer.

"All for one and one for all, my ass."


	2. Do You Believe In Magic?

There was one simple fact that most people learned about the Barton-Brandt twins within minutes of actually having a conversation with them. And that was that neither of them could be classified as being okay. True, Clint proudly wore his crazy on the outside. He was all random comments, gleefully inappropriate giggling and obsession with a medieval weapon. But Will was the one that should really be the concern. Most people overlooked him because compared to his brother, he was containable. He wasn't loud with his crazy. He was easy to overlook. And that was the sin of most people. It was precisely the fact that he was quiet and unassuming that made him more vulnerable than Clint. Really, Clint was quite frankly appalled and insulted that people still assumed he was the one that people should worry about out of the two of them. Then again, those were probably the same people that feared the Hulk while ignoring Bruce Banner. Those people were idiots.

That being said, Will was just as damaged as his twin brother. It wasn't just Croatia. It was life. Clint didn't need to ask to know that his brother's brain was more of hindrance to him than a benefit most of the time. His peers treated him like a freak while others just coveted his ability to remember everything while simultaneously forgetting that there was a person operating that big brain. Will was treated more as a tool than an actual human. That tended to screw with a person. Especially a person who was created in a lab along with two brothers that were wrenched from him after only five years and then eventually tricked into believing they were only a figment of his imagination. He then had to deal with a constantly traveling father and a distant, emotionally challenged "mother". After seventeen, Clint had the best "parents" that anyone could ask for in Phil and Nick. They saved him from being just like Wade. He was only eccentric (take that Jasper!). He wasn't completely foaming at the mouth crazy. But sometimes he worried that Will was. Especially in moments like this.

He watched as his twin continued his single handed pursuit at wearing a grove into the floor of the jet with just his feet. He knew that Will was out of it simply because the man wasn't even wearing a suit. Following Phil's orders to pack up, the twins retreated to their shared floor. While Will was in the shower washing away tentacle goo and grime, Clint packed their bags and left a change of clothes out. His clothes. Instead of Will's usual stepped right off the pages of GQ look, Clint left out his own more casual clothing (complete with the purple hoodie that Will claimed he hated). Clint did it in hopes that he could prevent Will from falling into a brooding state but the abhorred hoodie and even more reprehensible jeans didn't do the trick. And now Clint was actually dressed like his twin for the first time… well ever. And Will was brooding and pacing… and making him dizzy.

"Dude, I know that you're worried but sit down before I puke on your shoes," Clint ground out after Will passed by him again. He closed his eyes even as he felt Will come to an abrupt halt and plop down beside him. They sat in silence for a few tense moments. Clint focused on willing the concussion induced nausea back while Will no doubt focused on trying to bore a hole into the wall with his eyes. Once Clint's battle was done, he nudged his brother with his shoulder. "What's up with you?"

"What if we're wrong?" Will murmured, looking down at his hands. "What if it's not Kenny? What if we're wrong?"

Clint chewed on his lip absently. It wasn't like he hadn't thought the same thing while they were getting ready. They were flying to Manila to find who they thought was their dead older brother. There was a chance that this was nothing more than a wild goose chase. The only real lead they had was a cut on the guy's eyebrow that could've been from anything and the weird psychic connection that ran between the two of them. There really was a possibility. And yet, none of that really mattered because the guy was still in trouble and it was their job to help people in trouble. Especially people who looked exactly like them. Finally, he shrugged, closing his eyes once again.

"Then we test how cool he is and he can either be added to the Walsh lookalike club or he can be put on the same list as bomb dude and rogue SWAT guy." He opened his eyes to look at Will. "But we're not wrong and you know it."

"I know," Will sighed. "That's the part that I don't know how to deal with. What if it is him? What do we do then?"

"Then we find him, get him out of whatever mess he's found himself in and then indoctrinate him into the ways of the Triad of Awesome…. And oh my god, Wade is a genius!"

Will blinked. "Wade as in… Deadpool?"

"Yeah! He was always calling me one third of the Triad of Awesome. That's us! You, me and Kenny. He's a genius. Still crazy as all hell but a total genius!"

"Understatement," Will snickered. He leaned his head back against the wall. "How's the head?"

"Fine," Clint replied, dismissively. Out the corner of his eye he saw Will's face morph into a look of both annoyance and relief. He knew they were identical but no one pulled off multifaceted facial expressions like his twin.

"Hey, Wonder Twins, if you've finished your very adorable bonding moment," Tony called over his shoulder, "the rest of us would like to brief you on this latest cloak and dagger mission."

Will and Clint rolled their eyes in unison before Will pushed himself off the floor. He held a hand out to Clint before he could do the same. Clint raised an eyebrow in response. Will smirked. Clint accepted his hand, grateful for the help when he felt his head and his stomach protesting the movement. Will didn't say anything as he wrapped an arm around Clint's waist to help support him while the world tilted. He held on even after everything righted itself. Together they walked slowly but carefully across the jet to where the others were seated. Tony looked up and shifted in his seat allowing room for Clint to sit beside him. Will chose to stand behind him, hovering like the mother hen that he was.

"Cluck, cluck," Will whispered, earning an amused snort from Clint. There were moments when being a twin came in handy. "So what's the latest convoluted connection between us and the world?"

Benji shook his head from across the table. "I don't know how you two manage to get involved in the most complicated things but here we are. Operation Outcome is a JSOC funded beta project. It's one of three that we know of so far. I believe that we're all familiar with the first two."

"Treadstone and Blackbriar," Will said, in disgust. "So they are projects experimenting with creating super soldiers."

"The reason we didn't find anything about Outcome before now was because it's under a different department. Treadstone and Blackbriar are funded by the CIA," Bruce picked up. "Apparently they were all running concurrently but when one of the Treadstone operatives went rogue, Blackbriar was upgraded. Now with all of this hitting the public, it seems as if they're cleaning up house."

"Ever notice how the government is consistently doing it wrong?" Clint mused.

"At any rate," Bruce continued, smiling fondly in Clint's direction. "Operation Outcome is the third of the beta project. From what we've been able to uncover so far, the operatives selected for this project had two of their chromosomes altered. They're also given a regime of pills that seem to be designed to further the alteration process. The factory in Manila that Agent Sitwell has been watching is where the pills are manufactured."

"So it wasn't a BS mission," Clint muttered. "Stupid Jasper."

"Focus," Will pinched him on the arm. He glared up at his brother but nodded. "So what do these drugs do exactly?"

"Well," Tony said, pushing his tablet over so that Clint could read. "According to the notes I uncovered from Bruce's girlfriend…" he paused as Bruce tossed a pen at him. "So mature, Banner. Anyway, as I was saying before Bruce's inner child came out to play, the drugs are what keep them super. There seems to be one for cognition and another for physical abilities. It also keeps them there. If for any reason an operative was to stop taking the meds then they lose those abilities."

"Bastards," Will muttered. Clint agreed wholeheartedly. He also wanted them to hurry up and get to the point. Because they were dancing around the subject and they all knew it.

"What about Kenneth?" Phil called over his shoulder from where he and Steve were piloting the plane. Or at least Clint hoped that it was Phil and Steve piloting.

He loved Steve to death but the idea of him flying the plane alone made Clint more than a little nervous. The super soldier was not exactly the best with technology. He only mastered the remote like a month ago. And let's not forget the last time Steve flew a plane solo, he ended up on ice for seventy years. Clint was not keen on spending seventy years on ice. Especially not with the possibility of Kenny still being alive and out there somewhere. And especially not with these guys. Maybe if Natasha was around… but she wasn't, so hell no. He was not spending seventy years on ice with Bruce, Tony and Benji talking science.

"That's the thing, we couldn't find any references to anyone named Kenneth Kitsom," Benji replied, dragging Clint's attention back to the subject at hand. "But of the ten Outcome operatives there is one that exceeded all the others in terms of mental and physical capacities. Operative Number Five. His name is Aaron Cross. And he looks a little familiar, if you know what I mean."

Tony reached over and tapped the screen. Several pictures popped up. Clint assumed those were the Outcome operatives. But he didn't care either when he caught sight of number five. It was him. It was the man from the APB and the man that he knew in his heart was his missing brother. He pulled the tablet closer, staring into the eyes of the man on the screen. He felt something in the back of his mind pull. Or rather more like it stretched. He could feel it stretching… towards something…. someone.

"We're coming to find you," Clint promised, quietly. He knew that Will heard him based off the slight squeeze to his shoulder. He patted his brother on the hand. And then the picture was gone as Tony pulled the tablet back.

Clint glanced at the genius and found him staring at the tablet with a mix of concern and hesitance. That was never a good combination with Tony. It always led him to do or say something really stupid out of good intentions, of course. But it was still stupid.

"Uh, Phil, I need to show you something. Uh, upgrades to the suit!" Six heads shook in unison as Tony used his tried and true line that everyone saw through anyway.

"Right," Phil drawled. He motioned for Benji to take his place at the wheel (something that did not make Clint feel any better because Benji was a worse pilot than Steve!). "Show me these suit upgrades."

Tony didn't even bother to respond to the unusual level of sarcasm in their handler's voice. Instead he dragged the man towards the cargo bay of the jet where they would have a semblance of privacy. Clint sighed, internally wondering how long Tony thought he was going to be able to keep this one from him. And just how badly was he going to want to punch the older man in the face when it was inevitably revealed.  
__________________________________________________________________________________  
Tony knew that every one saw right through his suit upgrades line. Okay? He's known for months now. But really, it beat jumping up at the table and announcing that he had something that he only wanted to show Phil because he was the only one (save for Steve) that was least likely to have some horribly violent reaction to what he was about to show him. Then again Phil was also the same guy that arranged spectacularly violent retribution with a bland face. Case in point, the loud mouth breathing agent who somehow thought that Clint should be held accountable for his actions during the Loki invasion and sought to actually act on that accountability. After they retreived their archer, Phil prevented any of the team from seeking revenge. At first Tony, and the others, was going to find away to go around him when they found out that someone tipped Deadpool off. And the assassin didn't play when it came to the little Hawk he fostered for a year. They were still cleaning pieces of that agent out the conference room table. And to date, no one knew exactly who told Deadpool, although the furtive glances Nick gave Phil every time the subject was brought up answered that one for the most part. So in retrospect maybe showing this to Phil wasn't the best of ideas after all.

"Who is this?" Phil asked. His eyes still locked on the video.

"This is Kenneth Kitsom," Tony swallowed. He leaned forward to watch as Kenneth was questioned. His heart broke a little at the hesitant, almost soft spoken voice from the man on the screen. His face was heavily bruised and there were visible lacerations even underneath all the bandages. This must've been right after the roadside bomb "killed" him. He looked like he needed more time to recuperate. He needed a hug.

"Where.. where did you find this?"

"It was buried in Operative Five's file," Tony replied, crossing his arms over his chest. He forced himself to look away from the sad, bruised figure that was desperately asking to stay and instead focused on the living, not quite as bruised but definitely much happier identical figures across the plane. They were arguing, yet again, but even Tony could see that they enjoyed bickering just for the hell of it. "Kenneth Kitsom is Aaron Cross."

"So it really is him," Phil murmured, his jaw clenching and unclenching slowly. "I guess I know why you didn't show this to Bruce."

"The jet is tricked out, don't get me wrong. Bu it's not Hulk ready. And I'm pretty sure Clint is already twitchy enough about the idea of Steve flying. We don't need Bruce Hulking out on top of that."

Phil ran a hand over his face. "Send everything you have to Sitwell. I want him ready to report as soon as we land." He paused as he heard the faint rumbles of thunder outside. It was a clear night with not a cloud in sight. His eyes traveled up towards the roof of the jet and then back to Tony. "Why is Thor outside the jet?"

"Uh," Tony started. "The thing is he really didn't want to be left behind."

"I thought the idea was to leave Thor behind so he could report to Natasha, Jane and Ethan should they return home from their mission before we do."

"It's cool. We left Loki."

Phil gave him Coulson Blank Stare #2: the 'I'm surrounded by super powered idiots' stare. Yes, Tony got around to cataloging the various ways the man expressed his silent concern over their sanity levels. No, it wasn't because he was that bored. It was actually because he was that drunk. There's a big difference. Anyway, Phil gave him the most commonly used blank stare before ordering him to tell Thor to fly inside the jet for once in his life. Tony left to do just that but paused half way.

"We're going to get him, right? I mean at first this was all about the Wonder Twins but now… it's wrong, Phil. No one should be treated like this. Outcome, Treadstone, Blackbriar and however many more there are out there are playing god. That's not right."

"We're going to find him, Tony. I promise you that. We're going to find him and bring him home. And after we do, we're going to burn Outcome to the ground."

Tony smiled faintly. "It's funny. Five years ago, the only people I cared about were Pepper and Rhodey. And now…. Now I have a whole damn family. Complete with three pains in the ass, trouble magnet, genetically engineered little brothers."

He heard Phil snort. "Yes, I supposed you do."

"Hey, Phil. How many does that make for you and Fury now? Three, eight… ten? When are you two crazy guys just going to make it official? Oh, which one of you is the mother?"

"Bite me, Stark."

"You know you're lucky I'm in a monogamous relationship these days, or I might've actually taken you up on that offer."

"Just go get Thor!" Phil ordered but Tony could hear the barely concealed laughter in his voice. It was the same tone he used when he was scolding them (i.e. Clint, Tony and Benji) for harassing SHIELD agents. Tony grinned even as he headed to the bomb bay door to order Thor inside. He really was enjoying this family stuff. Especially when said family was completely insane.

His progress to the doors was halted when the jet dipped in altitude. His eyes widened as he saw a certain blonde thunder god fall past the window. He heard Steve and Benji yelling apologies over the loud complaints of their reluctant passengers. But Tony was getting familiar with Benji as well. He heard the amusement in the British agent's voice too.

"Seriously, who the hell thought those two should fly a friggin plane? Move over, I'm flying!"

"Clint, you have a concussion," Bruce's patient voice drifted back.

"Steve flies like he has a concussion. Also I'm pretty sure that you guys just killed Thor!"

"That was not my fault!" Steve retorted. "It was Benji's idea. He wanted to know what the button did." What Steve was leaving out was that he kind of wanted to know too.

"Unbelievable. You're a well over thirty year old man and you're still tempted by shiny buttons," Will griped. "How you made it past basic training is beyond me. And oh, look Thor's back."

Tony laughed and made his way back to the doors to greet the less than pleased god. Yeah, this family was insane and pretty damn hilarious. He absolutely couldn't wait to add another.  
__________________________________________________________________________________  
Marta Shearing prided herself on living a life free of regret. And she lived that way until the day that Aaron Cross burst into her home amid a spray of gunfire, saving her life and illustrating the many ways that she was so very, very wrong. She had nothing but regrets now. She regretted never thinking about the men and women that she ignorantly doled out meds to. She regretted never stopping to wonder if what they were doing was right. But most of all she regretted not walking away from Outcome when Dr. Bruce Banner did. She was tempted but the idea of the prestige she would gain from working on a project like Outcome jaded her… blinded her. She wondered what happened to him. Probably living a nice, quiet life, free of enhanced assassins, shady government connections and being hunted down. In other words, probably a lot better than her currently.

"They're coming."

She turned away from the window she was staring blankly out of at the soft muttering behind her. Aaron's head tossed from side to side as his body fought the virus. His temperature was so high. If they weren't on the run, she would've dragged him to the hospital. She was actually weighing the pros and cons of doing it anyway. There really was only so much that she could do for him with their current supplies. Another pang of guilt twisted in her gut as she realized that he, and all of the others, went through this alone before… because of her. But he wasn't alone this time.

"Aaron," she called gently. His head turned in her direction. She took that as a good indication to keep talking. She kept up a litany of words that had no meaning in particular until finally she saw his eyes open. Grayish blue, fever bright orbs watched her but she saw the recognition. She smiled softly. "Hey."

"Hey," he rasped. She helped ease him into a sitting position so he could he drink some water. She handed him the water bottle and immediately felt guilty as his hands shook so badly he couldn't open the cap. She took off the cap and wrapped her hands around his. Together, they tilted the bottle back so that he could get his fill. She coached him into taking small, measured sips. Finally, when he was done, she took the bottle back, replacing the cap and putting it by the bed in case he needed it sooner than later. "Thank you."

Her smile dimmed. How could he possibly be thanking her? It was her fault he was this sick in the first place. Guilt twisted her stomach. She tried to take her mind off of it by giving him the last of the Advil she had in her purse. It wouldn't do much but it would help him get some semblance of rest. That was really the only way he was going get through this.

"Where's my shirt?" he asked, suddenly noticing his undressed state. He lifted the sheet pooled around his waist. "And my pants?"

"Oh," Marta flushed. She had seen him with even less clothing than this before but it was different now. Before this, he was simply Operative Five. Now, he was Aaron Cross, the man that saved her life. The man that practically kidnapped her and dragged her to Manila. The man that had really pretty eyes and a nice body to match. Oh, man, she was definitely in over her head. She cleared her throat, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I thought you might be more comfortable with them off. I put them on the table. I can get them back for you…."

"It's okay," Aaron assured her, a smile brightening his too pale face. "Just wished you bought me dinner first."

Marta giggled. "If I thought you could stomach it, I would've. Maybe next time."

Aaron's eyes flickered briefly at the comment. She felt her throat clench. But just as quickly as the moment happened, it passed. She could see the effort he was expending trying to keep up the playful banter. She smiled and started to help him ease back down to the bed but he stopped her. His head shaking weakly even as he held onto her wrists.

"I have… money… $40,000 in the lining of my jacket," he said. "Take it. Keep moving but stay small." Marta knew he was shaking her head. "Yes, you can do this. You're strong, Marta. You're a warrior."

She couldn't help it. She laughed. And then the tears came. "I can't. I can't leave you."

"Yes, you can. You should. It's not safe."

She gently shook off his grasp and cupped a hand on his cheek. The fever burned against her skin but she held on. "I can't leave you alone, Aaron. I won't."

"Not alone… they're coming for me… you should go. You've helped me enough. You should… done enough." She pulled him forward so that his head was resting against her shoulder. Her free arm wrapped around his trembling shoulders even as one of his hands clenched onto her shirt.

"It's not enough," she whispered against his hair. "I'm not leaving you. I promise."

"Coming… they're coming."

He continued to mumble feverishly but she couldn't find it in her heart to move him. The guilt settled somewhat as she held him. She wasn't lying. She wasn't leaving him. No matter what, she was staying with him. Even if "they" showed up. Whoever "they were".  
__________________________________________________________________________________  
Will sat in front of his quietly mumbling brother chewing on his lip absently. This went beyond a concussion. Bruce gave Clint a brief exam before gently ordering him to try to sleep. That was a little over an hour ago and Will wasn't sure how much actual rest Clint was getting. The fever stated about five minutes into his nap, reaching an alarming height before dropping just as suddenly. The muttering had been going on ever since.

Bruce assured him that Clint was stable but also promised to give him a more thorough exam once they landed. That would be in another half an hour. Now Will was sitting opposite his brother contemplating whether he should wake him up or leave him alone until the plane landed. Despite the mumbling, Will was leaning towards leaving Clint alone. He was getting something resembling rest at least. And besides, it wasn't like Will was exactly wanting for company at the moment. For some strange reason, Thor was hovering around them. He popped up around the same time the fever sparked and hadn't left yet.

Will didn't mind, really. Despite what Clint thought, Will did not dislike Thor. It's just that Thor was always around Loki. And Loki made Will uncomfortable because on some level, he still made Clint uncomfortable. He didn't care how many pranks they planned together, Will hated the way that Clint would sometimes mentally retreat when the trickster god was around. It was happening less in recent months but the fact that it would happen at all meant that Will was never going to be completely comfortable with Loki. Besides Clint still enjoyed torturing and harassing Ethan, so Will figured he was entitled to a little grudge against Loki. Just a little. He admitted that the younger god was intelligent and a surprising voice of reason in the Darcy/Clint plots.

At any rate, despite his conflicting feelings about Loki, Will was very clear about his feelings about Thor. He liked Thor. He was just a little confused about why the god kept staring at his brother like that.

"We're coming. Hold on."

Will arched an eyebrow. He heard Clint's earlier whisper of the same thing but who was he talking to now? He reached a hand towards Clint, not surprised when his brother's eyes snapped open before his hand even landed on his shoulder. The twins stared at each other silently for a moment. Thor continued to watch them both.

"Who were you talking to?" Will finally asked. Clint blinked in confusion. "Just now, you were talking in your sleep. You said 'we're coming'. Who were you talking to?"

"I think… it was Aaron, I mean Kenny, I mean whoever!" he trailed off thinking. "No, I know it was him," Clint stated more firmly. "He's sick, Will."

"Like a fever sick?" Will asked, an idea forming in his mind.

"Uh, yeah, probably. Why?" he lifted a hand to touch the stitched up cut by his hairline but Will smacked it away as usual. Clint frowned even as his eyes narrowed. "Oh, you think that's why I was running a fever earlier."

"Earlier and just now," Will corrected. "You and Kenny are connecting. The thing is I don't have any idea of how."

"Magic," Thor's booming voice announced, causing Will to jump slightly. He actually forgot the man was there. He didn't need to look back at Clint to know that his twin was staring at Thor in disbelief.

"Come again?" Tony asked. Will glanced out the corner of his eyes to find that Bruce and Tony were now involved in the conversation. Phil was most likely listening as closely as he could from the front of the plane. If he even thought about moving, Will was certain they were going to have strap Clint down. Ridiculous discussion about magic or not. "Magic has what to do with this exactly?"

"You told me once that you were descended from Hansel Alder, correct?"

"Yeah, what's that got to do with anything?"

"I apologize. My knowledge on magic is not a complete as Loki's. I will try and be as clear as I can. Hansel was a witch hunter. But most importantly, he was descended from a witch himself. A grand white witch to be exact. His sister was more skilled in using the magic they inherited from their mother but that was because it was believed that magic passed through the female line. I believe that Hansel also inherited their mother's magic though it took on a different form. And I believe that it is the same combination of magic and science that brought the three of you into this world that makes you all more susceptible to the influence of magic. It is especially true in our young Hawk."

Clint's eyes widened. "Why especially me? Why not Will? Why does it always have to be the Hawk?"

"When we first encountered one another, I felt a strong magical trace in you. I thought at first that it was left over from Loki's unfortunate meddling but after continued interactions with you, I realized that it was simply you. I feel the same current within William but it is not as active. I believe that Loki's meddling brought out something that was dormant within you."

"So you're saying that I'm magic?" Clint summarized with another raised eyebrow.

Thor paused for a moment before shrugging. "Essentially, yes. You are more capable of tapping into the magic that unites you and your brothers to form a bridge of sorts. Your most recent head injury has led to your walls being down. If your missing brother is in a similarly altered state, or ill as you stated, then your subconscious is likely reaching out to him. That is why you're experiencing symptoms similar to his physical condition."

Clint stared at Thor while Will stared at Clint. He watched his brother process the information and then proceeded to not care at all. Or rather, it's not that he didn't care. More like Clint was already imagining the ways he could use this in his single handed pursuit to make all SHIELD agents hate The Avengers and anyone affiliated with them. Will let him have his moment, because his twin was a little special sometimes. Will indulged him for the most part but not when it came to putting his life in jeopardy.

"How do we shut it down?"

"Shut it down?" Thor repeated slowly. "I do not think you understand. You cannot sever the connection between Clint and your brother. It's similar to the one that you share with Clint."

"Yeah, except I never gave Clint a ghost fever," Will snapped.

"Will, you know that this isn't a bad thing, right? Kenny isn't a threat. He's our brother."

Will opened his mouth to retort but the words wouldn't come out. He could feel all of them looking at him, silently wondering what was wrong with him. He was used to those looks (though he had forgotten them since joining SHIELD). He felt Clint's eyes on him. He could try and ignore the others but it would fail every time when it came to his twin. He turned slowly to meet Clint's eyes.

"He's our brother," Clint stressed.

"I know that…. I do…. I just…" he trailed off, fully aware that he didn't make any sense. Clint continued to stare at him before sighing.

"So did you break the news to Jasper that we're on our way?" Clint asked, effectively changing the subject as an evil smile spread across his face. It was almost convincing. "I can't wait to see Four Eyes. I've missed him so much."

"Clint, try not to lose focus on the more important issue," Phil chided. "That's finding Kenny. You can torture Jasper any day of the week."

"And yet you all wonder why he is the way he is," Bruce muttered, shaking his head. He walked back to his seat, dragging Tony with him.

Will was happy because he didn't like the way Tony was looking at him still. It was like he knew just how not okay he was with this whole Aaron/Kenny (whatever)/Clint thing. It was true that there was a connection between Will and Clint. Sometimes it was almost like they could read each other's minds but they never connected on some crazy physical level despite being miles away. When Will met Clint again, he finally found someone that understood him. And now… now there was someone else. Oh crap, he was jealous of his own goddamn brother. There wasn't a word in any of the ridiculously large amount of languages he knew to describe how screwed up that was.

There also wasn't a word to describe the level of anxiety and panic that seized him as he felt the plane touch down on the ground. They landed. They were in Manila. And it was only a matter of time before they found Aaron/Kenny and he was going to have to deal with this head on. He swallowed leaning back in his seat, his hand clutching the arm rest tightly.

"Will?" he looked up to see that Clint was already on his feet. This was due in no small part to the agitated figure of Jasper Sitwell standing just outside the plane. He could feel Clint's excitement. Bothering Jasper was Clint's version of going to Disneyworld. Will knew there was a complicated friendship between the two men that basically meant that Phil turned a blind eye to their many attempts at murdering one another. "You going to be okay?"

Will was grateful for the out. "Yeah, I'm going to be okay." He wasn't lying. At some point, he would fine. At some point, he would deal with the fact that apparently he was jealous that his mentally challenged (or formerly mentally challenged) brother was psychically connected with their brother. At some point… but Will was pretty sure that was not happening any time within the next few minutes. "Go bug Jasper. I'll be out in a minute."

Clint nodded. He placed a hand on the back of Will's neck and squeezed lightly. And then he was off. Will leaned his head back again, listening idly to the sounds of Clint and Jasper bickering. He knew he was off his game when he didn't notice Tony sitting beside him until the man started talking.

"You know when I first met you... I kind of didn't like you." Will blinked at the sudden admission. Tony shrugged. "It's true. In case you just choose to ignore my flaws but I've been told I'm self-centered with narcissistic tendencies. I just barely managed to let Clint and Bruce in. Then you show up and suddenly Clint is less about me and all about you."

"Uh, I'm sorry?"

"Don't be," Tony rolled his eyes. "The point is that I was wrong. Because instead of losing a brother, I got another one. He's still my partner in recklessly stupid poor decision making crime. And now I've got you to be my extra voice of reason for when I cause my other one to turn into an enormous, green rage monster."

Will smiled softly. "So you're saying that I'm not horrible for being jealous?"

"Oh, no, you're pretty horrible," Tony laughed at Will's look of horror. "But you're also human like the rest of us. Well, 12% like the rest of us." Will rolled his eyes. Tony paused, looking unusually serious. "When we get him back, Kenneth is going to need both of you to help him through this. And you can't help him if you're busy worrying about whether Clint is replacing you."

"You're right... I just…."

"I know. You need time to work through it," Tony nodded. "Take a few minutes but get it together. There is only so much baiting Four Eyes is going to take. I'm pretty sure knowing there are now three versions of Clint Barton running around might've finally tipped him towards homicidal."

"Sitwell won't kill Clint. Deep down, I think he actually cares about the brat."

"He cares about you too. We all do," Tony admitted. "That's not going to change once Kenneth is here."

Will let out a slow breath. "I must've hit rock bottom if you're giving me pep talks."

Tony smirked, rising to his feet. "Now that's the smart ass I like to see." He held a hand out to Will. The younger man accepted the hand and allowed Tony to pull him up. "Let's go save Agent Sitwell."

"And by save, you mean help Clint torture him more?"

"You know me so well!"

Will laughed a bit more honestly this time. "Thanks, Tony. For you know… the talk."

"Don't mention it. Seriously, don't mention it. I have a reputation to maintain."

"You know that you pretty much ruined that the day Natasha asked you to buy her tampons and you went. You didn't send staff. You went yourself," Will pointed out. Tony flushed. "Yeah, I know that about that. And sooo many other things."

Tony started to protest before he smiled. "Welcome back."

"Thanks."

By Will's approximation, they had a few hours before the crap hit the fan and the action started picking up. So for right now, he was going to use the lull in the drama to sort through his thoughts, think over what Tony said and figure out how he was going to explain any of this to Clint.

"There are three of them, Phil! Three!"

And maybe have a little fun at Agent Sitwell's expense. After all, he was only human.


	3. I Knew You Were Trouble

Contrary to popular belief (i.e. the belief of anyone other than Phil, Natasha, Nick or the founding members of the Avengers), Jasper Sitwell and Clint Barton did NOT hate one another. Sure, Jasper got annoyed when Clint felt the need to pop out of vents in impossibly high places as he walked through the hallways. Yes, Jasper reached new levels of pissy rage when Clint teamed up with the rest of the Unholy Union (Benji Dunn, Tony Stark, Darcy Lewis and god help them all, Loki) to prank him. But he tolerated it all because Jasper remembered a time when they could barely get SHIELD's youngest ever agent to talk to anyone other than Nick or Phil.

Jasper was part of the team that raided the HYDRA cell in 1998. He saw firsthand what the then fifteen year old was capable of but it still took a lot for him to connect the scrawny kid with the badass, fearless assassin persona he made for himself a year later. But it was true. In the year and a half that passed between his first introduction to SHIELD and the second, Clint made quite the reputation. Granted, the majority of that was due to his self-appointed guardian devil, Deadpool. To this day, no one quite knew why the older assassin had gelled to Clint. But Jasper was willing to bet at least two months pay that it had everything to do with Phil Coulson. The man was notorious for taking in strays and special projects, and while Clint was the most special project Coulson had ever taken on, Wade Wilson was just the type of person Phil would take special interest in. So the fact that Wade was protective over Clint did not come as a surprise to anyone who really knew Phil Coulson. What did come as a surprise was that Wade was still overly invested in Clint's life even after the kid finally cracked and gave into being an actual agent of SHIELD. Then again...

It would be nice to say that Clint eased into life as a secret agent with grace and style. But that would a damn lie. He stuck out like a sore thumb. The average new recruit was usually fresh out of college. They were usually twenty something and believing they knew it all because of a fancy degree. Clint was a seventeen year old kid that learned what he what he knew from life experience, the streets, and a variety of questionable tutors (including the aforementioned guardian devil). He wore his trust issues on his chest for all to see and keep away. And they did. Very few wanted to risk getting to know the weird teenager with the obsession with a medieval weapon and the loud, snarky mouth. Jasper wanted to be one of them. But Phil refused to give him that opportunity.

From the minute Jasper was actually introduced to Clint (after Deadpool let him off the ground that is) Phil was forcing them to interact. He was Clint's unofficial handler until the brat turned eighteen. Apparently Nick had no qualms about recruiting a teenager and giving him unlimited access to weapons and secret government knowledge but he balked at the idea of putting someone under the age of eighteen in the field. Jasper didn't really know how that made any kind of sense but he rolled with it. He accepted his burden and tried to be the best handler he could. Of course, that might've worked if Clint wasn't determined to make him kill him.

He could write entire novels about the hell Clint put him through in that year. But looking back at the quietly hurting kid he was and then to the confident, brash but intelligent man he was now, Jasper was forced to admit that it was all worth it. Seventeen year old Clint couldn't see past his own hurts to realize that he had people that were willing to share his burdens with him. Thirty one year old Clint recognized that he had a family of choice that loved him more than he even knew, or occasionally thought he deserved. And part of that was all due to Jasper not actually shooting him and leaving him for dead in the desert like he wanted to. The kid turned out alright.

Didn't mean that Jasper didn't think he was still a hell raising brat.

"Hola, Four Eyes!"

He was startled out of his reverie at the arrival of said hell raising brat. He knew the jet landed twenty minutes ago. He had no idea why it took twenty minutes for them to disembark but there they were, invading the SHIELD safe house he called home for the past week and a half. He raised an eyebrow taking in the archer's appearance. Almost stupidly bright smile, usage of his least offensive and obnoxious nicknames upon greeting, trembling limbs, too shiny eyes and lack of ever present twin by his side. Yep, Clint was not okay. But he was faking it. There were two ways Jasper could play this. He could call him out on his obvious BS. Or he could fake it too. He could play the role that Clint was silently pleading with him to play. As if there was ever any question.

"Brat," he replied with an appropriate mix of venom and affection. "Took you long enough to get here. What did you stop for directions or something?"

"As if you can complain. I seem to remember someone who got lost on his way back to HQ once."

"That's because I'm not a pilot," Jasper narrowed his eyes. "I seem to remember the only reason I was flying in the first place was because you decided that it was a good idea to take one of the Quinjets out for a joyride, dragging me along for the ride and then you got into trouble as you always do. You were unconscious and I had to fly the plane back and get yelled at because of you."

"Good times," Clint grinned. Jasper refrained from throwing something at hm. He knew that was the response Clint was aiming for. It was always the response he was aiming for. There was a rumor going around headquarters that Clint and Tony were purposely trying to goad Bruce into having some kind of reaction. Jasper was the one that started that rumor because he knew the brat. He lived to press buttons. It was some kind of thing with him. Kid was a freak and his handler was an enabler. Speaking of…

"So, Agent Coulson, is there something you want to add to this?" Jasper asked, staring at the older agent hovering around their mini confrontation. "Is there a particular reason you didn't feel the need to tell me there were three of them?"

Phil smirked faintly, looking between his two agents. "I didn't tell you there were three because at the time there were only two. The third was a happy surprise."

"That's not an excuse. There are three of them, Phil! Three. One was horrendous enough. Two was pretty damn terrible. But three? I just feel like I should've been informed that there was a possibility that there was a third one."

"It wasn't a possibility," Bruce explained from the background. He was busily looking through the medical supplies to no doubt give an examination to their medic phobic archer. Initially, Jasper was hesitant to agree with the idea of allowing a man who had no real medical background to be Clint's primary doctor but he had a way of dealing with the irritating agent and his frequent injuries. Shockingly his rate of injury had dramatically decreased since becoming an Avenger (and that's saying something since he was constantly falling off building since becoming an Avenger).

"We actually thought Kenny was dead," Will chimed in. Jasper whirled around surprised to see the oldest twin standing by his brother. When the hell did he get there? Still….

"You're aware that I've read your file, Agent Brandt. I'm aware of the injuries you've been able to walk away from. And I helped write Clint's file. I'm well aware of what that idiot can survive. Pretty sure at this point, Death has a list of people she wants nowhere near her. Wade Wilson and Clint Barton are most likely at the top of that list. Hell, the brat died once and obviousy that hasn't stopped him. He's still around and annoying me. So don't act like death was supposed to be a deterrent here."

"Wait? You died?" Tony asked, poking his friend with a stylus pen. "When was this? Like how long were you dead? When was this?"

"It was only like for five minutes," Clint shrugged. "It's no big deal. It's not like I crave brains or anything."

"You were dead for five minutes with no lasting negative side effects?" Bruce joined in the gawking. Clint glared at Jasper over their heads. "That's astounding."

"Yeah, well," Clint fumbled. He automatically turned pleading eyes to Phil. His handler shook his head, clearing his throat in the process.

"Okay, children, enough chit chat," Phil announced, breaking up the Science Brothers' latest project… for now. "Sitwell, what do you have for me?"

Jasper nodded, slipping back into his professional mode. "Late last night the warehouse was infiltrated by two individuals fitting the description of Aaron Cross and Dr. Shearing. They were down on one of the lower levels. A survey of their inventory shows that the pair accessed some of the viral compounds stored there. Thanks to the information that Mr. Stark sent us, I was able to cross reference that data with what we already know and determine what compounds were being housed here."

"So what did they take?"

"According to the data, it was the virals for cognition. From what we can tell, one of them was injected with a substantial dose of the virus. I can only assume it was Mr. Cross. The dosage was large enough to begin the process of viraling off the meds entirely."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning," Bruce picked up. "That it would make the effects of the drugs permanent. He would no longer be dependent upon the meds. He could retain those cognitive effects permanently."

"He's going to smart forever then," Clint murmured. He glanced at Will. "That could be problematic for me in the long run. Two smarty pants brothers is overkill."

"Yeah, because you're such an idiot," Will rolled his eyes. "Tell me again about how you built a signal jammer out of an old Walkman." Clint shrugged. Jasper sympathized. Getting Clint to realize that he was actually intelligent has always been a struggle. Happily that responsibility now fell on Will (and apparently this Kenneth/Aaron person).

"Bruce, what does this viraling off process entail exactly?" Tony asked, snapping them all back into reality. "Would it involve say a fever?"

Clint and Will exchanged glances before looking at the scientist. Bruce's brow was furrowed as he glanced over the data that Jasper complied. "I believe that it would. The meds that they're using are cultured from a live virus. The process to make the transition complete would involve injecting the person with the live virus. This virus appears to be particularly aggressive. I imagine that the virus would wreak havoc on one's system causing temperatures that would rise past the danger point. If it were anyone other than someone who has been treated with a super soldier formula, I would say they wouldn't survive. But it would appear that Kenneth has twice the genetic enhancement. It's likely he will survive though his fever might make him wish otherwise."

"Well, you heard the man. Magical fever explanation done," Tony nodded. "That's why Bird Boy is able to reach out to the Missing One. Because he's getting his brain baked by a virus. And Clint's is scrambled due to falling tentacles."

"Wait, you have a magic fever?" Jasper asked, feeling very stupid for asking. "Wait, this is you we're talking about here. Of course you have a magical fever."

"I'm glad that everyone else is just comfortable with this," Will grumbled.

"It's Clint!" everyone save for the twins muttered. "Magical fever is the least improbable thing he's done in his lifetime."

"I'm awesome," Clint snickered.

Jasper rolled his eyes and was happy to note that he wasn't the only one. Bruce coupled this with shaking his head as well before dragging the awesome one off to be looked over. Will, of course, followed after them. Jasper watched them with a thoughtful look in his eye. Clint was teasing his brother loudly as they followed behind Bruce. But Jasper was more than a little familiar with Clint. He knew when the kid was faking it. He knew when the kid (and he refused to refer to him as anything other than the kid) was playing a role. And damned if he wasn't playing right now.

"So what's wrong with the Doublemint Twins?" he asked aloud.

Phil snorted, eyes also following at Clint, Will and Bruce. "Just Will going through middle child syndrome unexpectedly early. And Clint trying to overcompensate."

"He'll be okay," Tony chimed in, absently. "We talked."

"Now I know things are bad. Stark is giving the actual functional twin advice on emotional troubles," Jasper grinned. Tony glared. It was nice messing with them for once. "So, Phil, where do we go from here?"

"From here?" Phil started, shrugging his shoulders and loosening his tie "From here, we do our best to find Aaron Cross and Dr. Shearing."

Jasper turned around to face his mentor. Because what? How was that a plan? It was moments like this this where he really was grateful for Stark and his lack of a filter.

"How the hell is that an even remotely cohesive plan, Agent? It's like you want the Wonder Twins going off on their own!"

Phil returned Tony's incredulous look with one of his own. "And you really think that any of us stand a chance of stopping them from going off on their own? If they haven't ditched Bruce in an hour, I would be surprised. No, I know they're going off on their own. Hence the reason why I said find Dr. Shearing and Aaron Cross. We find those two and we find Clint and Will."

"Or we could try something novel and keep the idiots with us for a change. But nope. That's not the Coulson way. You just turn a blind eye to them running off to do their own thing. You really are an enabler. You do know that, right?" Jasper pointed out.

"Shut it, Sitwell."

"Sure thing, Agent."

Yes, he was the consummate professional. That didn't mean that he couldn't find pleasure in annoying his superiors (especially Phil like superiors) every now and then.  
__________________________________________________________________________________

When Clint was fifteen, he made a promise to himself that he was never going to be so blind to the people around him that he lost himself again. He trusted Barney and to a lesser extent, Jacques, with the kind of total faith that only a child could muster. He gave them everything he had and it ended with broken bones and a loss of trust in the world around him. Three months in the hospital with only a washed up circus carnie as company solidified the belief. He could've stuck around with Buck for a while but he left. He left him and everything else behind only to wind up in the clutches of HYDRA a few months after his sixteenth birthday. Then SHIELD happened.

Before SHIELD, Clint was content to believe the worst of humanity. People sucked and they weren't worth trying to learn to trust. Then he met Phil, with his kind smiles and gentle nature, and Nick, who was every part of his name but also supportive and protective. They forced Clint to believe that there were decent people in the world. They forced him to trust them. And he did. Blindly. To the point where he didn't complain about the gig in New Mexico, despite the fact that he had a bad feeling going into that one. And though those days were a blur, he still remembered shooting Nick in the head. It was frequent friend of the nightmares that plagued his sleep to this day.

But the point of all this is that Clint was content to ignore the world. To not trust a damn soul. And then Phil and Nick showed up and promised him security and support with no strings attached. He didn't need to do anything. He didn't need to lie to anyone or cover anything up. Hell, if he wanted to just sit around and be a normal person, he was almost completely sure that Phil or Nick would've arranged for that to happen. They made him trust them. They made him believe that he could have a family. And even after Loki screwed him up but good, there were others that made him continue to believe.

Clint fell hard that time and he had people there to help him back up. He wondered what Will would be like if he had someone after Croatia. That was the difference between them. Clint knew he was considered crazy and weird. He wore it proudly. He had a beyond screwed up childhood and emerged with at least a smidgen of his sanity intact. That was enough for him. That was saying something. Will had a more functional childhood but trauma is trauma. Doesn't matter if you're an adult or a child. After the invasion, Clint admitted there were more dark days than light. He did something he wasn't very proud of during those dark days. But despite his best efforts to the contrary, he survived. He survived because of his family. After Croatia, Will was left to his own devices. There was no Natasha to hold him through the nightmares. Or Steve and Thor to offer lighthearted, technology impaired distractions. Or Tony and Bruce to call him on his BS and force him to face his crap head on. Will didn't have any of that… then. But he had something way better now. He had a twin that as more than willing to do all of the above.

"So why are you upset?"

Will blinked at the no doubt sudden question. They were once again sitting side by side in one of the bedrooms of the safe house. Bruce was off collecting supplies or whatever excuse those guys used when they knew that Clint was about to run and they couldn't find a way to justify stopping him. He thought it was cute that they all still went through the effort of pretending.

"What do you mean?"

Really?

"Dude, you're doing that thing where you think with your face far too much. So I'll ask again. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Right. Remember, twin thing. Lying doesn't work on me. You might fool everyone else into thinking that you're ok. But not me. I've made faking it into an art form."

"Please don't sound so proud of that."

"I will when you cut the crap and tell me what's going on. Look, Bruce can only pretend that he's looking for something for so long. After awhile, we're going to have to legit beat the Hulk to get out of here. So can we cut through the melodramatics for once and talk about what's bothering you? And I know that Tony talked to you about whatever this is. You've got to be beyond screwed up if Tony is giving you a pep talk."

"Yeah, that's what I said." Will sighed. "It's just that… you and Kenny. It's…."

"Don't be jealous," Clint whispered. Will turned to him with a surprised face. "Dude, we're twins. Identical twins. No matter what happens, we have that. Please tell me you know what that means to me. What you mean to me."

"I do," Will murmured. "Even without the fancy magic bond."

Clint nudged him with his shoulder. "I'd say our bond works just as well."

"Yeah, I guess it does." Will rolled his shoulders before glancing down at his hands and wrinkling his nose. "Clint, why am I wearing your hoodie?"

"An entire flight from New York to Manila and you just now noticed that?!" Clint shook his head and looked out the window. "It's almost dawn."

"So?"

"So, we need to get going. If Kenny, Aaron, whatever, is sick then he's not in any position to defend himself. We need to find him ASAP. And now we know that I can."

"You do realize that you're not a magic bloodhound, right? Wait, no this you we're talking about. Of course you know that, you just don't care."

"See! You know me so well," Clint grinned, ruffling Will's hair. "And you were all worried about Kenny taking your place!"

"Idiot.

"Yeah, but I'm your identical idiot. We were once the same egg. What's that say about you?"

"That I did something pretty terrible in a past life. Or I pissed off the wrong person."

"Yeah, me, if we don't get out of here before Bruce comes back. You know how he gets when it comes to my safety and well-being. He'll hulk out and then we'll have to deal with Jade Jaws and his overblown protection act for his precious Cupid and Cupid Two."

Will mock shuddered. He stared at Clint for a very long minute before shrugging. He pulled the hood up on his sweater and grinned. "I see the appeal in these."

"The best way to go incognito." Clint reached into the pocket of his own hoodie and handed Will a pair of shades. He put on the matching set. "Ready to find our brother?"

"Oh yeah. Because I'm beyond tired of calling him Kenny/Aaron."

"Right!"  
__________________________________________________________________________________

Aaron was asleep. He actually managed to sleep through most of the night, surprisingly. His fever was still holding on but it steadily decreasing. She was less concerned about his brain baking itself at any rate. Now as the sun slowly started to rise, Marta was confident that he would be able to pull through this. She wasn't so sure a few hours ago but he was looking a little closer to human now. Still, she knew there was something more she could be doing to help ease the worst of the lingering symptoms. She could at least help get him comfortable. It was then that she remembered the roll of money. He insisted that she take the money out of his jacket. It was the only way she could convince him to lie down and try to sleep. Once he saw her holding the large wad of money, he finally did as she asked. He fell into a deep slumber as if finally at peace. She wondered if he really thought there was a chance in hell she was going to take the money and leave. She really wondered why she wasn't. But then again, she kind of already knew the answer to that one.

She was in this for the long haul. She didn't know if it was just that extreme circumstances brought people together or if there was something more to her connection with Aaron but she was willing to stick around and find out. She was staying. No matter what, she was staying with him. And as he wasn't in any condition to go anywhere further than the bathroom, it looked like they would be staying right where they were. So no, the money wasn't really going to help them much at the moment. Or maybe it would….

She hastily scrawled a note for Aaron in case he woke up before she returned and left. A quick stop with the landlady told her that there was a pharmacy within walking distance. She made her way there quickly, not wanting to prolong being away from Aaron's side any more than she had to. Getting the medicine was easy. A little too easy and she refused to believe that her luck was changing this deep into the mess. They were beyond in the fire. And then she heard the sirens.

Trying to remain as casual as possible, she glanced out the window not surprised to see several police cars pulling up. Officers spilled out, obviously searching for something. She didn't need to be a genius to know… or rather who. Damn it. She abandoned the medicine and crept out of the pharmacy. Her mind was racing. She had to get back to Aaron. But if they were looking for him, they were no doubt looking for her as well. She wasn't sure how she was going to get back to warn Aaron to move… if he could even move. Her heart sank as she watched the police close in on the building they spent the night in. this was it. They were going to find him and drag him back to Outcome, if they didn't just kill him on the spot. She could run but Aaron was dead. As if there was ever a choice….

"I wouldn't if I were you."

She whirled around surprised to see a man suddenly standing beside her. He was wearing a purple hoodie and shades but she could still make out some of the facial features. They were more familiar to her than her own at the moment.

"Aaron?"

He smirked. "Close but not exactly." He held out a hand. She shook it without really thinking. His hands were rough and calloused around the fingertips. "The name is Clint. And I'm apparently the youngest of the Triad of Awesome."

"Huh?"

"Aaron is my older brother. Well, one of my older brothers."

"He never mentioned any brothers," Marta snapped, snatching her hand away. She studied the man in front of her. On one hand he did remind her a lot of Aaron. And not just in the physical looks part because they did look a lot alike. But also in the way they carried themselves. She noticed the same hyper awareness in this nearly identical looking man. There were enough physical differences that showed that this was not Aaron playing some elaborate trick on her. But still… he never mentioned any siblings.

"Yeah, I doubt he would've gotten around to mentioning us before," Clint said, leaning over her shoulder to peer at the police around them. "But I get the feeling that he's starting to remember us now. Tell me, has he been talking in his sleep for the last day or so?"

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Because I'm the one he's been talking to," Clint answered with a smirk. "I would really love to chit chat with you and explain everything. But it's not quite happy storytelling time yet. I'm guessing that they're closing in on his location. You need to tell me where he is so we can help him. And then I promise I'll explain everything."

"I…"

"Please, Dr. Shearing, tell me where Kenneth is."

He lowered the shades and the same eyes that implored her to follow Aaron to Manila stared back at her. They were the same exact eyes. It was impossible but there was something that was telling her to believe the man in front of her. Something told her that she could trust him. She just prayed that she was right.

"He's over there," she pointed at the building. Clint gave her a brief smile before pulling a cellphone out of his hoodie pocket.

"Will, it's me. I found Dr. Shearing and a whole bunch of police…. Yeah, she's safe. He's in the building next door to yours….. What do you mean? Of course I'm not…. You really should know better than to actually ask that… what I always do... you're such a worrywart! I'm not going to die… I think. Well, it wouldn't be the first time. Remember, magic, bro."

Marta was only somewhat happy that the person on the other end of the line seemed as confused and exasperated at the conversation as she was. Clint hung up with a shrug. He grinned in Marta's direction before shoving her against a wall. He passed her his shades.

"Take care of these for me, okay? They were a special gift. Keep them safe and most importantly keep them on you. As soon as the police are gone, head back to the apartment building and meet up with my brother."

"What are you going to do?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" he grinned. "I'm going to do what I do best, Dr. Shearing. Distract."

With that, he was racing out the alley, yelling loudly. The police noticed his strong resemblance to Aaron and gave chase. As far as plans were concerned, it was a solid idea but she was pretty sure that this was not going to end well for him. Still, he just gave her and Aaron the best chance they had. She would figure out what they could do for him once she was back with Aaron. And they were going to do something. There was no way she was going to let Aaron's newfound younger sibling die on her watch.

She gave it a few minutes before she raced out the alley. She saw the landlady standing outside talking to the police. Figures, she thought even as she placed the borrowed shades on her face and dodged the suspicious looking police officers. She ran up the steps, not stopping for even a second.

"Aaron!" she yelled as she entered the apartment. "We have to go. The police are…."

Marta stopped short at the sight of the two men standing facing one another in the small bedroom area of their apartment. Each was holding a gun in their hand aimed at the other man. Her breath caught as she continued to study both me. They looked alike. Again there were enough physical differences that told her that they weren't exactly the same but the one wearing the purple hoodie was pretty much a carbon copy of Clint. They were even dressed alike minus Clint's blue hoodie. They had to be twins but Clint also claimed to be Aaron's brother too. The similarities, the same eyes….

"Oh my god, you're triplets," she muttered.

The one that wasn't Aaron smirked, never taking his eyes off Aaron or his gun. "So I see you've met my crazier half."

"In a matter of speaking."

"Don't worry about it. That's how most people feel when they meet Clint for the first time. He can be… a bit much. But he's mostly sane. I'm Will, by the way."

Marta continued to look between the one known as Will and Aaron. Aaron seemed as confused as her but there was still something about his stance that was slightly relaxed. Ever since this journey started, she had only seem him tense and ready to strike. But now in front of a man wearing his face and holding a gun, he seemed less tense. Even if he didn't recognize him, he knew who this was.

"What the hell are you?" Aaron finally broke his surprised silence. He lowered his gun slightly, prompting Will to lower it entirely. "Are you a clone or something?"

Will rolled his eyes. "Seriously, am I the only one that doesn't immediately leap to science fiction?! What is with you and Clint? We're all look alike so we clearly must be clones. Or Life Model Decoys, which are still not a thing. I don't care what Tony says."

"I don't understand."

"Yeah, I'm starting to sound like Clint, so I guess that makes sense. But no, I'm not a clone. You know who I am. I'm your brother," Will explained. "Your name is Kenneth Kitsom. You're the oldest of what Clint and his babysitting assassin nut job call the Triad of Awesome. And you need to get your crap together because the guys that made you are coming after what they think is you but is really our little brother."

"I don't know how you know who I am or my real name but I don't have any brothers. I'm an only child," Aaron snapped, holding his gun up again. Will didn't look terribly concerned. He merely continued to stare at Aaron.

"Kenny, you know me. I don't have time to sing or help you build something but you know me. You know us. And you know deep down that everything I'm saying to you is true. Clint promised you that we were coming and here we are."

Aaron took a deep breath. Marta could see the gun was trembling, though if that had something to do with the fever or the surprise, she wasn't sure. The gun wavered again before he put it down on the table beside him. His lips quirked up slightly.

"You got big, Will."

Will smiled brightly. "And you got ugly."

Aaron laughed quietly. "We look alike, genius. How does that even make sense?"

"Nah, I'm way hotter than you."

"Whatever," Aaron ran a hand through his hair."I don't understand. I thought I made you up."

"Yeah, my father let me believe that too. But you didn't. Besides I don't think anyone can dream up someone like Clint," Will grinned. "We're real. And I know it's really confusing right now but I promise we'll talk about it all once this has been settled."

"Right. Where did you say Clint was?"

Will turned to Marta. She thought they forgot about her in the midst of their reunion. Apparently not. "Uh, the police. They were outside the pharmacy. He showed up. I thought he was you but then he told me he was your brother. He led them away and told me to meet up with his brother. I thought he was talking about you but now…"

"Yeah, in other words, he's off doing what Clint does best. Drive up my blood pressure and make me wish I never found him again."

"About that… how did you find each other again?"

"Yeah, that's a slightly long multi chapter epic that I will explain in full detail I promise. But right now we have to figure out what we're going to do about Clint."

"Should I be concerned?"

"Yeah. For the Manila police. There's something that you should know," Will paused. "Have you heard of the Avengers?"

Aaron gave him a look. "I'm a genetically enhanced assassin working for a secret section of the government, not living under a rock. Of course I know who the Avengers are."

"How did I end up with two smart asses? Anyway, the thing is that… you're related to one. And I guess a half."

"How…."

"That's part of that whole long story thing. For now, I need you to figure out where our idiot brother has run off to so we can stop him before Iron Man and the Hulk show up and start destroying stuff in the guise of helping him. Thor said you two have some kind of magic connection that you inherited from our great times a lot grandfather, Hansel, the witch hunter."

Aaron pointed at Will. "Pretty much everything coming out of your mouth is making me very nervous. We are definitely having a very long talk when this is all over."

"Yeah, yeah," Will flapped his hand dismissively. "Less talking and more using magic."

"You're making it sound like it's really easy. I'm not even sure how I was connecting to him in the first place. How am I supposed to do this exactly?"

Will shrugged. "Hell if I know. I guess think about Clint really hard? It can't be a one way connection."

Aaron threw him a comically dirty look before huffing. He closed his eyes and it looked like he was mediating. Will crossed his arms over his chest watching his brother warily. After a few tense moments, Aaron's eyes fluttered open and a smile spread across his face.

"I know where he is!"

"Awesome. Where…." Will trailed off as Aaron turned on his heels and jumped out the window. He and Marta made it over to the window in time to see him clear the roof the adjacent building. "I just really want to understand what's so friggin difficult about using our words?!"

Marta sympathized. She got the impression that Will's life just got a lot more complicated. He sighed, raking a hand through his hair roughly, clearly contemplating how he was supposed to find them now.

"Hey, are you coming or what?" Will stuck his head out the window again to see Aaron waiting for him on the same rooftop. He raised an eyebrow, pulling a similar gesture from Will. "And make sure Marta's safe."

Will chuckled. "Yeah, I got you. I'll be there in a minute. I'm afraid I didn't get spider monkey in my genetic cocktail. You and Clint must've taken it all."

"Excuses!"

Will leaned back in the apartment, turning his head somewhat to face Marta. He tapped the shades he was wearing and motioned to the ones still on her face. "Keep those on. You should be safe here. If you think you're not, then move. Trust your instincts. But make sure you keep those with you."

"What are you doing to do?"

"Inevitably something stupid and reckless that will probably end with one or all of us getting shot. So basically nothing out the ordinary, really. A few of my friends will be in here pretty soon. They'll keep you safe until we get back. And we will be back. Or they'll find us. One or the other."

With that said, Will was out the window as well and racing after his brother. To say that only one of them was genetically enhanced (that she knew of, though she was doubtful given Aaron's question about any previous experimentation) Will was more than keeping up with Aaron in terms of speed. She watched them until they were completely out of sight. Despite Will's reassurances to the contrary, Marta was deeply concerned. She supposed she would feel better when the promised friends showed up. At least then she wouldn't be alone. And then the door to the apartment was kicked in.

Marta shrieked whirling around to face… Iron Man and Dr. Bruce Banner? What the actual hell?

"And we missed them," Iron Man commented, taking a look around the apartment. "Clint figured it out."

Dr. Banner rolled his yes. "Of course he did. After he realized that it wasn't on him or in him, the only obvious answer to where we put a tracker would have to be the shades. Especially given the fact that you gave them to him and told him to keep them with him always."

Iron Man flipped the face-plate up to reveal the annoyed face of Tony Stark. He glared at the older scientist. "Would it kill you to ever let me have a moment?"

"I've actually given it a lot of consideration and I believe that yes, it actually might."

Marta blinked looking between the two men. It was obvious from the way they interacted with one another that they were friends. But what did Bruce Banner have to do with a bunch of superheroes?"

"Um, excuse me, Dr. Banner," she called out softly, interrupting the latest round of pointless bickering.

Bruce turned with a warm smile. "Dr. Shearing! It's a pleasure to see you again. Wish it was under better circumstances. And please, call me Bruce."

"Oh, okay. Not that I'm not incredibly happy to see a friendly face but what exactly are you doing here?"

Bruce paused, giving some clear thought to how he was supposed to answer that question. That did not reassure her at all. "The short answer is that I'm here to keep this one in check and prevent an international incident as well as find a certain pair of wayward twins."

"Well, Will and Aaron went that way," she pointed in the direction where she last saw them. "They went after Clint. He distracted the police away from finding Aaron."

"Of course he's playing distraction," Bruce groaned.

"Oh, we've got a big problem."

"Yes, Tony. All three of them are in the wind. That is a problem."

"That actually makes what I'm about to say even worse. So we know that Blackbriar was used to clean up the mistakes of Treadstone. Outcome was used to clean up that mess. And now they're activating a new project, LARX, to clean up the mess of Outcome. The problem is that there is only one Outcome asset still alive."

"Crap," Bruce growled. Marta didn't remember his voice being that deep or his eyes quite that green. Were they glowing?

"Brucey, I need you to calm down. The Other Guy is starting to show," Tony murmured. He gave his friend one final concerned look before turning to Marta with a wide smile. "Hi, I'm Tony Stark. Nice to meet you. Can you tell me anything about LARX?"

"I didn't work on that project but I remember that it was supposed to be similar to Outcome but without the 'emotional noise'."

"Great, genetically enhanced assassin with no morals or a conscience. That's just awesome," Tony sighed. The sigh turned deeper as he glanced at Bruce who was now hunched over. "Pull it together, man. Big and green is not what we need right now."

"Working on it,' Bruce ground out. "Worried about Cupid."

"Oh, brother."

Marta was going to ask what that was even supposed to mean when two more men invaded the apartment. Judging by the fact that Tony barely gave them a second glance, Marta was going to go on the record by saying that they weren't hostiles. Or at least not a valid threat.

"We have a huge problem…. And why does Tony get to wear his suit and I don't? I thought we were trying to be discreet."

"Name one time Tony Stark has ever been discreet."

"Valid point, Benji. And back to the problem."

"Yeah, I know we have a problem, Cap. The Merry Trio are all back together and currently being hunted down by an enhanced sociopath and oh yeah, Bruce is like two steps away from the mother of all Hulk rage fits. So yeah, we have problems."

The one Marta could only assume was the famous Captain America stopped short. His mouth opened slightly as he tried to work that one out. "Yes, that is very bad."

"But ours is worst," the second man said. He had a British accent and Marta was trying to figure out what Avenger he was. It seemed that most of the original team from the New York invasion was present in her rented apartment. Maybe he was Hawkeye. Not like she had any clue and none of them seemed terribly interested in giving out introductions.

"Will's signal just cut out," the British man continued. "Phil, Jasper and Thor are out tracking them down now."

"Admittedly that's pretty bad but this is Clint we're talking about. He and Will apparently share a genetic defect that requires them to be kidnapped or go missing on a semi regular basis. How is that possibly worse than what I just said?"

"Remember how we left Loki behind because we know that he has no problems lying and he'd probably buy us some time if Jane, Natasha and Ethan came home early?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he chose today to tell the truth. They got home about an hour ago. Loki told them everything. Even about the whole tentacle thing. Natasha knows and she's on her way here. She's not too happy."

"Massive understatement. I believe the things she promised to do to poor Agent Sitwell are illegal in every country and I'm pretty sure a few galaxies too," the British agent added. "She wasn't exactly happy with Steve for dropping a tentacle on Clint's head either."

"It was an accident!" Steve muttered.

"Wait, Nat is on her way here? Now?" Bruce asked, straightening up. Marta noticed he sounded normal again. Whoever this Natasha was appeared to have scared him out of whatever emotional state he was in earlier. "That means that we have a little over two hours to find Clint, Will and Aaron and deal with a humorless, emotion challenged assassin. And let's not forget the LARX operative too."

"So we're pretty much screwed."


	4. There's No Place like Home….

Okay, so this looked bad. Speeding through a crowded plaza on a "borrowed" motorcycle while being chased by a soulless model of the latest assassin threat who didn't seem to know when to quite with only your increasingly more apprehensive and anxious twin as backup. Admittedly, things looked pretty bad. But doing all of the above with a gunshot to the leg felt even worse.

Clint was willing to admit that sometimes he made some bad decisions. It really wasn't his fault though. Bruce actually did a series of tests once that proved that Clint's ability to identify a dangerous situation was pretty much broken. Especially when it came to his own health. Clint was completely incapable of realizing a situation was not of the good when it came to his own well-being. Throw one of the people he called friends and family into the mix and suddenly he was all about safety… until he could come up with some bordering on insane and totally reckless plan that only put him at risk. Sure most of the times these plans generally consisted of being a distraction and allowing said friends and family to escape and didn't really factor in survival for Clint but he was fine with that. Because it meant that the people he cared about lived. That was all that really mattered to him. That is, until he found out he had a twin brother. Suddenly survival was actually important to him.

He was very aware of the things that people thought about him. Again, he wore his crazy on the outside and he embraced it. He was nuts and everyone knew it. Will, on the other hand. Will wore his crazy tightly bottled up. And while Clint was very vocal about his chances of living without his twin now they were reunited (slim to none), Will put on a brave face. But Clint wasn't an idiot. He knew that his brother kept a mental rolodex filled with every injury, every bump, and every scrape that the younger twin received in the field. Clint knew that the idea of losing him drove Will silently insane. So he tried to stop the crazy, bordering on suicidal acts. He really had minimized his overall visits to the infirmary since the former IMF agents became SHIELD agents. He had reduced the amount of crazy schemes to once in a blue moon. He did everything in his power to reassure Will that he wasn't going to vanish or suddenly drop dead. And didn't it figure that their older brother returning from the dead was enough to break his record of not doing the stupid, reckless thing.

Because there was no way that this plan was going to end in anything other than death. He just hoped that he wasn't signing Will's death certificate too. That's the part that had him out of it. Well that and the steadily bleeding gunshot on his leg. That hurt. And blood loss didn't lead to the most coherent thought patterns. Wait, what was he supposed to be doing again?

"Clint, you with me?" Will's voice cut through the fog growing in his brain.

"Where else am I supposed to be?" he yelled back. Will tightened his one armed grip on Clint's waist. He knew more than he saw Will turning to see where their tail was. "You think Aaron's okay?"

"He's safer than us at the moment."

There was never a truer statement than that. While they were being chased relentlessly through the backstreets of Manila, their triplet was stashed in an alleyway not too far from the apartment where they found him. Or rather the apartment where the soulless assassin guy found Will and Aaron and proved that he was not on their side by putting a bullet in their brother. Once Clint showed up on his "borrowed" bike, Will suggested that they leave Aaron for the others to find while they lead the assassin away. Solid plan, really, but that was not factoring in the fact that the guy took a licking and kept on ticking.

"Okay, so I'm definitely nowhere near as good at making near to impossible shots as you are but I'm decent. And I definitely just shot that guy in the shoulder. And yet he's still moving! It's like didn't even slow him down!" Will complained. "What the hell did they put in this guy's genetic cocktail? And can we get some?!"

"It's definitely some kind of juggernaut juice," Clint suggested. He heard Will laugh but the sound was abruptly cut off by the crack of a bullet way too close for comfort and followed closely by an all too familiar stinging pain in his shoulder. For a minute his vision whited out. He heard Will yell something and fire his gun again. Suddenly there were two arms around him, pulling him back against a firm wall of muscle. He felt arms wrapping around his body even as a pair of hands rested on his. Clint blinked, swallowing against the murky fog clouding his thoughts.

"Will…. If you want a hug, I think we're going to have to wait until we're not in a high speed chase on a stolen motorcycle and being shot at."

"Funny," Will murmured, closer to his ear now. "I need you to tell me the truth, Clint. How much pain are you in at the moment and where exactly does it hurt?"

He contemplated lying but it was almost as if Will's words (and the second frigging gunshot) brought all the pain crashing back in. "My shoulder… and my leg…. Hurts kinda bad."

Will tilted his head towards the sky. Clint knew he was looking for a sign of either Iron Man or Thor. He was surprised they hadn't seen them by now. Neither was the most inconspicuous of people. He wondered why Tony chose fire engine red for his suit. It was bright, and loud… kinda like Tony. Never mind. Made perfect sense.

"Clint, head to the docks."

"Hmmm?"

"The docks, Clint," Will ordered, gently. "Head there. Less traffic in that area. It might be easier for Tony and Thor to find us that way. Plus there are less civilians in the area. I get that this guy doesn't care about killing innocent people to get to us but we do."

Clint struggled to focus on his brother's words but it all came out as a jumbled mess. The one thing he did understand was go to the docks. He didn't care about the rest. Will said go to the docks and he would go to the docks. He trusted his brother. Both of them. Because they might have left Aaron behind because he was injured but he had a feeling that the oldest brother wasn't just lying about waiting for them to come back.

"I know you're hurting, little brother. And I know that you feel bad but I need to you to steer. I can't steer and shoot at the guy shooting at us. So can you do that?"

"Yeah," Clint grunted, sitting up somewhat. Will moved his arms back though one remained wrapped around Clint's non-injured side. It was leverage for the both of them. It also helped ground Clint and bring him back into the moment. "Any plan other than go to the dock?"

"We just need to stay alive until backup shows up," Will yelled. It was moments like this where being a twin came in handy. Not having to tear his eyes away from the water to glare at his brother was a handy thing. Maybe having a magic connection wasn't such a terrible thing after all. "Don't give me that look. Staying alive… how hard can that be?"

"Ask me that again when I'm not bleeding out of two holes in my body that definitely weren't there this morning and we don't have someone actively trying to kill us."

"Then I guess I can never ask because there is almost always someone trying to actively kill us!" Will countered. He loosened his grip for a minute to shoot at the assassin behind them. "Seriously, whatever this guy got, I want some."

"Bruce could probably make it happen. Well, Bruce and Tony could make it happen. You know if we live," Clint laughed, focusing on getting to the docks. He tried to ignore the steady throbbing pain in his body. He just focused on the water. Which is why he didn't notice that their tail was no longer behind them and was instead now beside them. He finally noticed when he felt Will abruptly pull away from him which caused fiery pain to spread through his already battered body.

By now the darkness that was creeping up on him wouldn't be pushed away. He didn't know how Will managed to get away from but he heard a muffled curse just before he gave into the blackness. His final thought was that he didn't care what the hell Will thought. Staying alive was way harder than it looked in the movies.  
__________________________________________________________________________________

The problem with being formerly mentally challenged was that it left him alone (well as far as Aaron knew) in a totally unique category. Mental retardation was not exactly something that was curable. Most people that were classified as mentally challenged stayed that way. Then again most people didn't have access to a pill that would boost their intelligence. Even fewer had access to a live virus that would make that permanent. But the man formerly known as Kenneth Kitsom wasn't like most people. He did have access to a live virus. He knew what it was to be formerly mentally challenged. He knew what it was like to go from being perceived as helpless to being viewed as a predator. He knew what it was like to go from protected to protector.

Every memory he had of his brothers (admittedly fewer than he needed) showed that he was just as protected as Clint when they were younger. Even at that young age, he knew that he was different from his brothers. He was the oldest. He was supposed to be the one that protected them. But all of that fell on Will's shoulders. Aaron didn't know how he forgot but as he trudged through the streets of Manila, desperately trying to ignore the bullet wound in his thigh, it was starting to come back to him. He remembered growing up with his brothers. He remembered always feeling less than them. He wanted to be as smart as Will and as determined as Clint. But he always knew that he was different. He wasn't like them. That's why Will was forced to be the "grown" one and protect them both. Now over twenty five years later he was still doing the same damn thing.

"I'm going to kill him," Aaron muttered as he hobbled down the street.

Even if he didn't have the apparently magical connection to Clint open, it wouldn't be difficult to find the way his brothers took after they left him behind. There was a clear path of destruction that led to the water. And if Aaron was the one trying to escape, he knew he would head to the docks. He and his brothers might've grown up separately but they seemed to think alike. Aaron knew they would go to the least populated area they could find. Less civilian causalities that way. If they were affiliated with the Avengers (and it seemed that they were) then they were definitely concerned with that type of thing.

He continued his shambling path through the destruction left behind by his idiot brothers. He pushed through the panicked masses with one thought on his mind: getting to his brothers and possibly murdering one, or both, of them. His brothers' friends would be on their way soon. Once he managed to fight through the pain and the virus still wreaking havoc in his system he was able to "borrow" a phone from a really nice guy that just happened to walk through the alley his brothers left him in. He called the police, playing on the hunch that someone associated with his brothers would be listening. He wasn't wrong. Not long into his conversation with a very confused police officer, the line was high jacked by one Tony 'Iron Man' Stark. Aaron would find the time to be a little star-struck by that once he made sure that his brothers were alive. And they damn well better be. He just got them back. He didn't want to lose them.

"Freaking finally," he muttered as he entered the parking structure near the docks. The emotional pull he felt when he first saw Will back at the apartment kept his feet moving towards the building. He knew they were there. He didn't know how but he knew they were there. He just hoped that he wasn't too late.

He limped past the smashed up remains of the LARX assassin's bike and what looked like the equally smashed up remains of the LARX assassin. He wanted to find some remorse for the man. He was a pawn too. If anything Aaron should've felt bad that he was too weak to fight for his own freedom. But the man not only shot him, he tried to kill his brothers. His sympathy was decidedly low after that.

"Clint? Will?" he yelled. His voice echoed eerily around the empty garage. He scanned the parking structure and felt his heart skip a beat when he found the pair lying on the ground a few yards away, their own motorcycle turned on its side with wheels spinning and smoking. "No, no, no." Forgetting about the wound on his leg, Aaron ran as fast as he could and skidded to a stop beside the nearest twin he could reach. His brother lay on his back, too still. Aaron shook the purple clad shoulder as gingerly as he could. "Will, wake up."

"Don't wanna," he slurred, eyes remaining closed. Aaron shook his head and continued to press along Will's chest. He reached his ribs eliciting a sharp gasp. The eyes that all three brothers shared flew open and narrowed in Aaron's direction. Aaron sighed in relief at the sight of that weak glare. "That hurt."

"At least you're alive to feel it, idiot," Aaron snapped. "What the hell happened?"

"Uh," Will frowned. "I don't really remember." His eyes widened. "I'm supposed to remember but I don't. That's my thing. But I don't. I don't remember. What do I do if I don't remember? I'm nothing without that. People only like me because I can remember but now I don't remember. I don't have my thing anymore."

Aaron had no idea what any of that was supposed to mean but it was obvious that not having his "thing" was causing Will distress. Well that, and the bleeding wound on his head and the no doubt serious concussion he was nursing. Concussions were apparently on sale this week. Clint had one too. And a similar wound on his his temple. As if they needed anything else to make them match. Hell, the only reason he knew which twin was which was because Will was in a purple hoodie while Clint was... wait, Clint.

He left Will muttering under his breath about needing to find his "thing" and crawled the short distance to where Clint lay on his side. He nudged the youngest brother on the side but got no response. He gently shook him, scared of moving him too much. He focused on the archer, focused on feeling anything from him. Any sign that he was still there. That he didn't lose him when he just found him again. And then he felt it. He felt everything. Clint was in agony. Aaron gently brushed Clint's hair back from his head, trying to avoid the no longer neatly stitched cut on his forehead. He concentrated on pushing soothing feelings through their connection and felt a little less pain in return from his brother. Any little bit would help. That was all he really felt he could do in that moment. And that was would have to do for now. Neither Aaron nor Will were exactly in a position to much more than help him be comfortable anyway.

"Will? You still with me?"

"I lost my thing," the middle brother muttered.

"Oh," Aaron replied, still trying to understand that one. "It's okay, Will. We'll get you a new thing."

"I liked my thing."

"Then we'll find it."

"I lost my twin too."

Aaron sighed, all his earlier anger at his brother fading away with each pathetic word out of Will's mouth. Stupid brothers. "No, you didn't. You didn't lose him. He's still alive, Will. And the remembering thing will come back."

Will stared at him for several long moments with glassy eyes. "How do you know?"

"Because if it doesn't then we'll find a way to bring it back," Aaron replied, easing into a more comfortable position between the twins. He flinched as he jarred his leg. Will's eyes narrowed for a moment and he opened his mouth to comment. Aaron smiled and placed a finger on his brother's lips. Once he was sure that Will wasn't going to speak, Aaron gently helped his brother move so that his head rested on Aaron's uninjured thigh. Aaron placed his hand on Will's soft yet blood soaked hair. "Relax. Rest that big brain of yours. Reinforcements are on their way. Everything else, we can figure it out afterwards. Remember we can do anything when we're together."

Will leaned into the hand carding through his hair. "All for one and one for all?"

"Exactly. See you remember. Your brain is just a little scrambled right now."

"Oh," Will murmured. He put a hand on Aaron's leg just above where he was shot. "How does this feel?"

"Its fine," Aaron assured him. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. And Clint will be fine. I think he's too stubborn to die honestly."

"He died once," Will said, quietly. "He might try it again."

Aaron's brow furrowed even as he turned to stare at their completely still little brother. He stared at him until he saw the slow rise and fall of his chest. Yeah, he was still breathing. That was good. But the sound of an engine whirring over their head was even better. Aaron was pretty sure he was never so happy to see someone as he was when Iron Man and Thor landed in front of the three brothers.

"We are so screwed," Iron Man commented as he kneeled in front of Aaron. Thor was on Clint's free side. For such a huge man, Thor was surprisingly gentle as he examined Clint. "Tell me, he's still alive."

"Aye, the Hawk has sustained grievous injuries but he continues to carry a spark of life," Thor replied. "He will be well once the Son of Coul and Dr. Banner arrive."

"Let's just hope that happens before Natasha pops up."

Will shifted, struggling to pull himself into a sitting position. Aaron watched the struggle for a few seconds before rolling his eyes and helping him to sit up. Even though he was upright, he was still wobbly. Aaron once again shifted so that his brother was resting against his chest. Will patted him on the knee in thanks before looking up at the two looming Avengers with wide, frightened eyes.

"Natasha is coming here? Now? How?"

"Apparently Natasha, Jane and Ethan got home early and Loki decided to go against his nature and his own damn history and squealed. Jasper is trying to get a lock on the jet they used to get here but he can't figure out which one they took yet," Iron Man reported, retracting the faceplate on his helmet to reveal the equally worried and anxious face of Tony Stark. "So in other words, we're screwed if he dies."

"I believe that we already in grave danger given the entire alien tentacle debacle," Thor corrected. "But Lady Natasha's wrath will be unlike any this realm, or likely any others, has seen before if her partner has passed from this world. I normally wish nothing but health for my young friend but I have even more self serving reasons to wish for his speedy and miraculous recovery."

Aaron blinked slowly looking between the two superheroes. Tony seemed to notice him in that moment as he leaned forward to poke the oldest of the triplets in the shoulder. Aaron flinched at the heavy metal suit poking him and glared.

"Does this one talk?"

"Yes, this one talks," Aaron snapped. "You just talked to me on the phone like twenty minutes ago. You know I can talk."

Tony's eyes widened. "Oh, he's just delightful."

"Don't start, Tony," Will warned, leaning further into Aaron. "Give him a few days to settle into the madness before you start trying to adopt him too."

"Adopt?" Aaron muttered. "Aren't we too old for that? And aren't you a little young to be our father?"

Tony laughed. "Yeah, I definitely like this one. He's adorable. We're keeping him. But to answer your question, No Longer Missing One, I am definitely not the dad in this story. That guy is the one you need to look to solve your no doubt very intense, lingering daddy issues."

Aaron looked to where Tony was pointing. A black, government issued sedan pulled to a stop not far from where they were sitting. Several people exited the car. But all Aaron could see initially was the man with the bland face and the sharp suit. For several heart pounding moments, he thought that Bryer and his men had finally tracked him down. That maybe the Avengers turned him over. And then he felt Will's hand on his leg again and saw Marta getting out of the car and running towards him, relief clear on her face.

"It's okay," Will whispered in his ear before shifting out of Aaron's arms. "They're our friends. We're safe."

"Aaron?! What happened to you?" Marta exclaimed as she replaced Tony in front of the triplets. Tony shifted over to the right and was now kneeling over Clint along with another man. A man with short cropped blonde hair was beside Will. He caught a snippet of their conversation and felt relieved as he heard his brother joking back and forth with the other man. "Aaron?"

"I'm fine. Are you okay?" Aaron reassured her.

"Yes, very confused but I'm fine," Marta answered with a bright smile. He didn't know what happened for her in the last twenty minutes but some of the darkness was gone from her eyes. Her gaze occasionally darted to the man still checking over Clint and Aaron had a feeling that he was responsible for bringing back some of that light. He wasn't sure why that made him want to punch someone.

"Gunshot wounds to the right calf and left shoulder, no exit wounds on either. His preexisting concussion has now been upgraded from moderate to severe. And I'm pretty sure that he's broken a few more ribs," the man reported to the man in the suit (Aaron was just going to call him Suit for lack of a better name) who was hovering over them. "He never does anything in halves." He then looked to Aaron. "Has he regained consciousness at all?"

"Uh, I don't think so," Aaron answered, hesitantly.

The man noticed his discomfort and smiled. "I'm Bruce Banner, unofficially, I'm Clint's doctor."

"Clint has a doctor that travels with him?"

"He has a thing about doctors," Tony replied. "He doesn't trust them. Except for Bruce here."

Yeah, Aaron wasn't getting any less confused sitting there surrounded by very loud people that seemed to enjoy bantering with each other a little too much. He was happy when an actual ambulance pulled up, apparently at the request of the Suit. Several EMTs spilled out and from then it was a whirlwind of activity. The three brothers were separated but even from the back of his ambulance, Aaron kept an eye on his brothers. The Suit and Bruce were with Clint while Will was with the man who was talking to him earlier and Tony. Marta, Thor and the final member of the newcomers stood with Aaron while the paramedics looked over his leg. The suit seemed like he was in charge of the scene and all of the Avengers seemed to be trusting him. Will said he was a friend. So maybe it was okay to let his guard down just this once. Maybe they would be okay….

"Clint!"

"Oh no," the man that Aaron only just learned was Steve 'Captain America' Rogers muttered. He flushed several shades of red and looked around trying to find a safe place to hide. Aaron struggled to understand why he was afraid of the petite looking redhead that stormed the scene… that is until she talked. He learned many languages in his time with Outcome, Russian being one of them. But one didn't need to actually understand the language to know that she was promising to do things to the paragon of American ideals that were pretty much illegal in every part of the world.

"Who is that?" Marta wondered aloud, watching as the woman continued to berate the suddenly very small looking Captain.

"That is Lady Natasha," Thor answered, shifting out of her view as if that would protect him from her wrath. "She is also the beloved one of the Hawk."

"Clint is dating her?!" Aaron blinked. He took in the woman's appearance. She was gorgeous but she also seemed like she was a little dangerous. This he surmised after she pulled a knife out from god only knew where, waved it in the Captain's direction before storming over to Clint's ambulance and repeating the whole verbal tirade once more, this time on the Suit, who remained impassive, and most importantly, unafraid. His respect for the Suit rose a little in that moment. "Yeah, I guess I can see that."

"Um," the paramedic that was working on his leg spoke up hesitantly. "They're going to take your brothers in now, Agent Cross. You can probably ride with Agent Brandt but they need more room to work on Agent Barton."

Aaron met Will's gaze across the parking structure. He didn't need to have a fancy mind connection with his brother to know what he was thinking. He simply hopped down from the back of the ambulance, ignoring Marta's questioning and hobbled over to where his brother was waiting. He stumbled in the last part of the stretch but thankfully there was about a ton of metal waiting to catch him before he fell. Tony didn't comment. He merely helped him up so that he was sitting beside Will once again.

"Kenny?" Aaron couldn't help it. He twitched. Will noticed and nodded. "Aaron?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we go home now?" Will asked, tiredly.

Aaron glanced around the now crowded parking garage. There was a team from whatever agency the Suit, and apparently all of the Avengers, was affiliated with that was cleaning up the mess left behind by his ultra-destructive brothers. Natasha was standing with Bruce and another woman who looked equally upset. Bruce was making calming motions to Natasha that seemed to be doing little good. Tony and his brother's friend, Benji, were loudly taking bets on who would "hulk out" first, Natasha or Bruce. Thor was apparently trying to coax Steve out of his Natasha induced funk.

In other words, it was pretty chaotic and one person away from being a total circus. And these were his brothers' friends. This is what he would be getting into by opening up to his brothers. He would be going from having absolutely no one to having a family composed of visibly insane people. He turned to look at Will and felt his heart stop for a moment. For a brief moment, he saw not his thirty five year old brother, but instead the five year old that had the weight of the world on his shoulders. The one that tried to protect not only his younger twin but his older brother who wasn't quite right in the head. The one that Aaron always wished he could be there for. He smiled wanly and put a hand over Will's.

"Yeah, bro. We can go home now."

"This is creepy," Tony commented, staring at the screen in front of him. "This is really creepy. I mean really creepy. Does anyone else think this is creepy? Because it is."

"I think it's hot," Darcy chimed in. "There are seriously three of them. That's just… heaven."

"Please keep your perverted thoughts about guys who think of you like their little sister to yourself," Bruce replied over his shoulder. "And honestly, that screen is only there so I can monitor Aaron, Clint and Will's vitals without having to go all the way to the Infirmary. It was not designed so that you two can spy on them."

"But there are three of Clint!" Darcy protested. "One was hot, two was even better but three? Three is like a special breed of awesome and hotness that doesn't have a category."

Bruce rolled his eyes but chose to ignore it. Really, it wasn't anything new. Darcy had repeated some variation of that phrase several times since the team returning from Manila. It had been a very long week. Bruce was just happy that he finally found the solution to keeping Clint in the actual Infirmary: removing any reason for him to leave the room. Once they arrived at the hospital in Manila, it was discovered that apparently all three brothers had a genetic predisposition for being shot. Will's wasn't as bad his brothers but it still required surgery to remove the fragments of the bullets that remained embedded in his skin. He was then put on mandatory bed rest for a minimum of two weeks. Clint was given a recommended stay of three weeks as was Aaron.

Needless to say both brothers launched an escape from the Infirmary less than an hour after getting back to the Tower. Bruce was alerted that they were missing and started the search for them. It ended when he found Clint curled up, sleeping in Will's bed with the oldest twin sitting at the foot of the bed chatting with Aaron, who was sitting on the floor with his injured leg outstretched. Bruce had them all moved into the same room that afternoon. He also allowed Tony to place a big flat-screen television and one of the many gaming systems into their room. Once he was given everything that he would've escaped for in the first place (his brothers and a constant source of amusement) even Clint couldn't find a reason to escape. It helped that Will had no intention of moving from his bed until the designated time was up. So no, Bruce surprisingly had no problems with Clint. Aaron, on the other hand, well he was a different sort of problem all together. One Bruce was still trying to figure out.

When Clint and Will found one another, there was minimal angst or drama. The twins simply looked at one another and fell back into their old patterns. It was easy given that Clint was slowly becoming adjusted to having someone care about him again. So when Will with his earnest need to protect the one bright spot in his ongoing sea of dark thoughts came along, Clint didn't give it a second thought. He merely added him to his list of worrywarts and continued on with his plans on giving everyone around him premature gray hairs. Likewise Will learned to finally open up and trust people. True, he was the most comfortable around one of the former IMF agents or Clint, but he was actually making an effort to spend time with others and be happy. Will adjusted because Clint adjusted. It was easy. Bruce had a feeling that with Aaron, things were not destined to be as smooth.

For starters, there was his reaction to his birth name. He visibly blanched anytime someone, other than Clint or Will, referred to him as Kenneth. And Bruce suspected that his acceptance of the name from Will and Clint had little to do with accepting the name and was more about keeping them happy. Then there was also the look of guilt that entered his eyes every time Clint or Will winced or flinched. Bruce was familiar with those eyes. He knew when they were feeling guilt for circumstances far beyond their control. Then there was the fact that Aaron was very obviously uncomfortable around the very extended family system surrounding the twins. Bruce spoke to Marta, who was able to give him a little insight into Aaron. He didn't think it was actually possible to be more psychologically damaged than Clint but Aaron was actually proving that there actually could be something worse than Clint. Awesome, just awesome.

"Dr. Banner?" a hesitant voice called from the front of the lab. He glanced up from his never-ending paperwork (he was convinced that Fury created paperwork to try to dissuade them from doing what they do best. It didn't work kinda obviously) to see Marta hovering awkwardly in the doorway of the lab.

"Come in, Dr. Shearing. And for the last time, call me Bruce."

"Of course," she replied, softly. She stepped into the lab. Her attention drifted briefly to Darcy and Tony who were still staring at the television monitor with a little too much interest before she focused on Bruce. "Have they been like this all day?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I'd like to tell you that they get better but I've never been very good at lying and I've never actually experienced Tony or Darcy at anything less than slightly annoying."

Marta smiled. "Actually I was referring to Aaron and his brothers. Are they still not talking?"

"Oh," Bruce turned around in his chair to face the silent display on the screen.

For the past two days, the three brothers were non communicative. It was almost as if the sheer shock of having all three of them of under the same roof was severely impacting their ability to communicate with the outside world. And by severely impacting, Bruce really meant that they were essentially not talking… at all. Even though they didn't have audio on in the room, Bruce was confident in saying that not one word was spoken by either of the brothers since they were all roomed together.

"No, they're still not talking to anyone, including each other. And that's odd. I don't think I've ever seen Clint in a room with Will and his mouth is not running. And yet, none of them have spoken a word since we put them all together."

"What if they are, actually?" Marta mused. Bruce was happy that he wasn't the only one giving her an odd look. She flushed before pointing at the screen again. "I mean to say what if they are actually communicating with one another. I'm basing this theory only off the information that you all told me but I believe that they are communicating… just on another level. Clint is able to communicate wordlessly with Will and has a physical connection with Aaron. What if now that they're all together again, they can actually communicate with one another without talking?"

Bruce blinked slowly and barely repressed the urge to groan. That did make a lot of sense. Why the hell didn't they think about that one? It actually explained everything. Clint was always trying to push himself. Knowing that he was even remotely magical and that he had some kind of psychic bond with his brothers would be just the thing to intrigue him. Bruce was already familiar enough with Will to know that he was pretty much the same as Clint when it came to improving himself. He was always very much into indulging the weird impulses of his twin. So it wouldn't be out of character for Will to be going along with this as well. As for Aaron, Bruce suspected that once Aaron learned to work through his identity crisis and the usual layers of trust issues and emotional damage that seemed to surround the Barton-Brandt-Cross triplets, he would prove to be very much like the twins as well.

"So no one else sees how them using the whole hive mind speak thing is going to be a problem, huh?" Darcy commented aloud. "Because you do realize that you officially signed the death certificate for Agent Sitwell's sanity the second you let Aaron on board the jet home."

Tony smirked. "Oh, I know. I can't wait until they're healed and only slightly emotionally damaged as opposed to the full on screwed up they are right now. We're long overdue for some good old fashioned Avengers shenanigans. I wonder if Loki is still too scared to come back to the Tower. I should ask Thor to hunt his brother down."

"Oh, that's cool. I can just call him later," Darcy offered, absently.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Loki has a phone? Wait, you have the number?" Tony's other eyebrow rose. "Why do you have Loki's phone number?"

Darcy's eyes widened. "Uh, um, uh…. Oh, will you look at the time. I have to meet Phil to look over some paperwork for the latest crazy project Hank wants to work on. Gotta go!"

With that hastily said, Darcy all but skittered out the room with Tony hard on her heels, still questioning her about Loki's number. Bruce shook his head, his attention already drifting back to his own paperwork.

"Are they always like that?" Marta asked, after a few minutes passed in blessed silence.

"No, most of the time they're crazy. That was mild."

"Oh," Marta sighed. "And I thought life on the run was weird." Bruce patted her on the shoulder sympathetically. "This is going to take some serious getting used to, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but don't worry. It just takes some time and then you get used to the…." Bruce trailed off as his attention was caught by something he saw on the screen. Or rather by the something that he didn't see, which would be Clint, Will and Aaron. He rolled his eyes. "JARVIS, please tell me those three idiots didn't leave the building."

"The three idiots did not leave the building, Dr. Banner. They are on the roof. Bio scans show that they are all in fair health and nothing was damaged upon their escape. Agent Barton also asked me to tell you that you should butt out of his business because he is capable of taking care of himself. Agent Brandt seconded that while Agent Cross appears confused by me and seems to think that they're all suffering from some sort of mass hallucination. As you can imagine, Agents Brandt and Barton are more than willing to continue this charade."

Bruce groaned. "Sometimes I have to ask myself if I would be better off hiding in some remote third world country. Might not always have water or indoor plumbing but at least I didn't have to deal with bratty, crazy archers and his equally bratty, crazy brothers."

Marta giggled, pulling her legs up on the chair she was sitting on. "Admit it, you love it," she countered. "They make you happy. You're so different from when I first met you."

Bruce's lips quirked. "Uh, I think that be the biggest understatement ever. I'm redefining the term anger management."

"Well, yes, there is the issue of the Hulk but I actually wasn't referring to him. You seem lighter. Less like you're looking for something. Probably because you found it… in them. All of them."

Bruce was poised to respond when the doors to the lab slid open once again. Steve stumbled in looking slightly disheveled but still perfect. One day Bruce would figure out how he pulled that one off. "Bruce, you have to help me. Natasha has completely snapped!"

"What now?"

"She's insisting on stepping up my training because my aim is clearly off. She's basing this on the fact that I "clearly thought Clint's head was an appropriate place to drop an alien tentacle'." Steve ran a hand through his hair. "It was an accident but she refuses to accept that! Have you ever trained with Natasha?! It's a form of torture. I'm pretty sure even HYDRA wouldn't put their worst enemies through that!"

Bruce shook his head fondly. "So you want to hide in here for a few hours?"

"More like a few days," Steve corrected. "But yes, yes I do. You're a great man, Bruce. And an even better friend!"

"You too, Steve," Bruce replied even as their beloved team leader ducked under one of the desks in a far concern of the lab. The man could bravely stare down terrorists, aliens and Nazis but put him in front of the Black Widow and he's resorting to hiding under desks. Peace returned to the labs for a few more blissful moments. And then the doors opened once again, this time revealing a supremely annoyed Natasha. "Nat, what brings you down to the labs?"

"Where is he?"

"Where is who?"

"Where is Steve, Bruce?"

"Under the desk over there."

"Bruce?!" Steve yelled.

"What? You didn't say that you wanted me to lie to her. You know how bad I am with that. Plus, Nat is scary when she's mad." Natasha shrugged. Steve climbed out of his hiding space looking sadly resigned. Bruce felt kind of bad about that. He tapped the redhead on the arm. She looked at him with visible reluctance. "Look, Nat, it really was an accident. And if you really think about it, Steve saved Clint's life. If that thing had smacked Clint with his tentacle, Clint wouldn't be alive. Thankfully he only fell off a building and Tony was right here to catch him. So I think that Steve has paid his dues enough, don't you?"

Natasha glared before sighing. "Fine. Besides we have a more serious problem and I might actually need your help."

"Oh, don't worry. Clint, Will and Aaron are on the roof."

"I know," Natasha looked confused. "Clint sent me a text when he left the room."

"He actually tells you when he's leaving?" Bruce blurted out, earning three odd looks in the process. "Anyway, so what's the problem?"

"It seems that Tony took Darcy's phone which is pretty much on level with taking her iPod. She's sworn blood vengeance on him if he doesn't give it back. I think she means it too. I heard her asking Loki if he knew any non-fatal torture spells."

Steve rolled his eyes. "We don't have many rules in the Tower but I thought we all understood that no dabbling in the Dark Arts was at the top of that list."

As Natasha and Steve left the room, both discussing Tony's stupidity, Loki's proclivity for inciting trouble and Darcy's… Darciness, Bruce couldn't help but laugh. He caught the sliver of a smile on Marta's lips even as she raised an eyebrow.

"Okay," he admitted. "You're right, I do love the madness." He smiled wider. "What about you? You think you could love it too?"

"I think I'm going to have to. It doesn't look like Aaron's leaving any time soon. And I owe him…everything. If he leaves, I leave. But if he stays, I stay."

Bruce nodded slowly. "You like him don't you?"

"Of course, I do. He saved my life."

"I mean you like him, like him."

"What are you like five?" Marta retorted, even as her face flushed a brilliant red.

"You like him," Bruce said in a singsong tone. "You want to date him, love him and marry him."

"Shut up!"


	5. What's in a Name

It was an epic struggle but Will was slowly but surely learning to share his twin with their brother. And by learning, he meant making slow shaky steps in the right direction while simultaneously internally panicking every time he saw some connection between Clint and Aaron. For instance, while Will definitely did not have a fear of heights, he wasn't exactly that comfortable with them either. He was happier when he was either on solid ground or at the very least in the middle. Clint, on the other hand, felt his safest when he was as high up as he could go. He liked the wide open space that roof of the Tower provided. It was high up and spacious. No one could touch him when he was up there. It was his safe space. It was that way since they were children. And while Will remembered that much about Clint, he was surprised that he forgot that the same was true for Aaron. But it wasn't hard to remember once they were all together.

They stayed in Manila for a little over two weeks, just until the three brothers were stable to move. Then they were back in the Tower. Will blamed the concussion and the emotional overload for him failing to see that Aaron was not settling in. Even when they were all in the same room, his older brother had a look similar to a hunted animal on his face. He was always tense, rarely relaxing even when engaging in Clint's favorite form of communication: bickering, bantering and overall mockery. He seemed uncomfortable around the many, many people that used the Tower as a base of operation. Between the Stark Industries staff, the nonresidential Avengers and then the Avengers (and affiliated personnel) who actually did reside in the Tower, there was rarely a quiet moment. And Will was starting to see the signs of stress in their newly found brother. This is why he didn't hesitate to suggest making a run for the roof. The look of relief on Aaron's face in combination with the priceless look of confusion on Clint's made the inevitable fallout well worth it.

He felt a sense of déjà vu as he laid back on the floor of the roof with his brothers. This was how he and Clint started to reform their connection all those months ago. It was only fitting that this was where they started with Aaron. Or rather where he tried. Clint had no problem with Aaron. He seemingly settled their brother into his life with no extra thought. Aaron was similarly unbothered by Clint. Not for the first time, Will felt significantly lacking in his ability to relate to others around him. Especially when those others looked pretty much exactly like him.

Will let his gaze drift from the night sky above him to the pair sitting closest to the edge. Clint's shoulder was still giving him problems. Will knew that because he was still rocking the sling. Ordinarily, he would've ripped it off and thrown it to the wolves. But the fact that it was still on meant that it was still causing him pain. However, the leg seemed better. He based this off the fact that Clint protested until he was blue in the face if anyone forced him into the infirmary issued wheelchair. Not even the promise of making it more tricked out than Professor Charles Xavier's could convince him to sit in it. So that meant he was healing. Aaron seemed out of the woods as well. He was over the last of the virus and the wound in his thigh was practically healed. Now the only thing left to worry about was his mental health. And no, Will wasn't worried about that one at all. Because look at him and Clint. They were perfectly…. Aaron was doomed.

"So what's your worst childhood memory?"

Will snapped out of his thoughts at the question. "Really, Clint? Why does it always have to default to the bad with you? Can't you ever think of anything good?" Will repressed the urge to face palm when his twin actually seemed like he was thinking about it. "Aaron, what's your best memory from when you were growing up?"

Aaron fidgeted at the change in questions. "Uh, I actually don't have any."

"Any? Like none?" Will blinked. That was surprising. While, he didn't have the most engaged (or caring) mother in the world, he did have some good childhood memories. It bothered him that neither of his brothers could say the same. It also made him want to hurt people like a lot. "Even at Berwin?"

"Especially at Berwin," Aaron replied darkly. "I hated that place. It's why I joined the army. I figured that anything had to be better than there."

"Huh," Clint murmured. "Guess I did dodge a bullet then. Maybe Barney had the right idea after all."

"What?"

"Oh," Clint blinked as if realizing he wasn't alone on the roof. "When we were at the last orphanage, the staff started talking about how difficult it would be to place me in a home. I was dependent on Barney. I didn't really talk much back then and I didn't like to be touched. Still don't, I guess. Anyway, they were talking about sending me to a more long term facility. Looking back, I think it was Berwin."

"But I thought Berwin was for people with special needs."

"Uh, I was the weird, selectively mute deaf kid with clear people issues due to being beaten for years by my dead drunk dad. Safe to say that I was one of the most special needs kids out there."

Will wanted to protest that but he couldn't. He understood where the staff was coming from. But it just made him resent his own adopted father even more. Clint and Aaron were both so damaged and if James had just thought about keeping the boys together, maybe they wouldn't be.

"I guess it's just as well that I didn't end up in Berwin," Clint shrugged with one shoulder. "If I was at Berwin, I wouldn't have joined the circus and learned how to shoot. I probably never would've met Phil or Fury or…. Nat. I probably wouldn't be an Avenger either. So it all worked out in the end."

Aaron nodded. "I see your point. I think. Even though our lives have thoroughly sucked, it helped us to be the men that we are today."

Clint narrowed his eyes. "Sure, if that's what you want to infer from that." Will stifled the urge to laugh at the confused look on Aaron's face. He'd learn soon enough that Clint tended to dismiss anything that could expose him as intelligent or in possession of emotions. Will was still confused as to how Clint and Natasha worked as a couple as she exposed both sides of him.

"Okay, so now that caring and sharing is over and done with, can we please address the elephant in the room?" Clint asked. Will glanced around the rooftop, earning a look of disbelief. "Really, dude? You know it's just a saying."

"You remember that Loki now lives here full time. Anything is possible with him, including a literal elephant in the room."

"Valid point but I was thinking more along the lines of what the hell we're supposed to be calling you," Clint said, looking pointedly at Aaron.

"Whatever you've been calling me is fine obviously. I answer you, don't I?"

"Yeah, but you also flinch any time we slip and call you… you know," Will pointed out.

Aaron opened his mouth before closing it just as quickly. He caught his bottom lip between his teeth and began to bite down. Will was forming a mental file on his brothers' emotional tells. For Clint, it was his ears. He still had a habit of tugging or toying with his ear when he was stressed. With Aaron, it was his lip. When he was feeling stressed out or overwhelmed, he tended to bite his lip. This meant that Will was more than familiar with that particular tell because that's all Aaron had been since they returned to the Tower.

"I know that I've been a little weird," Aaron started. "But I just… I don't know. Can't we talk about something else?"

"No, Kenneth, we cannot," Clint replied. He sighed as Aaron predictably tensed. Clint sighed. "We need to talk about this. This is your home, if you want it to be that is. And that means you're supposed to be safe, and happy. That's not going to happen if you're walking around feeling uncomfortable and awkward. I know it's going to take time for you to adjust to the others. They're loud and they're just extra. But your name is simple. So what do you want us to call you?"

"I really don't know," Aaron replied quietly. His eyes were downcast. Will was slightly confused as to why this was still an issue. He hadn't hesitated to call the oldest brother, Kenneth, because that's who he was. Aaron Cross was a product of Outcome. He wasn't their brother.

"Why would you even want to be Aaron Cross?" Aaron lifted his head. The eyes all three of them shared were narrowed slightly as he listened. "That's the name that the government gave you when they experimented even more than they already did. Why would you even want anything associated with that place? I would think that you would want to forget that Outcome ever happened."

Aaron's eyes flashed and Will realized that he just made a serious mistake. "Of course you don't know what it's like to want to be someone else. To be anyone other than who you are. And why would you? You're Will. You've been the perfect one since birth. The one that was never called a mistake since the minute we could open our eyes."

Will started to counter that statement but his brother cut him off by rising to his feet abruptly and storming off. He could only watch in faint surprise as his brother crossed the distance of the roof quickly, disappearing into the stairwell that would lead him back into the Tower. Well that leg wound wasn't causing him anymore problems. Still….

"What the hell did I do?"

"Besides fail real hard?" Clint asked, all mock innocence. At Will's raised eyebrow, he offered a more sympathetic look. "It's not really your fault. Not exactly anyway. It's just that you really don't know what it's like."

"What it's like?" Will repeated slowly.

"Yeah, what it's like to be a freak," Clint held up a hand to hold off any argument Will was going to make. "No, you need to hear this. All your life you were treated like a freak because you remembered things and you moved really fast. And I know that it hurt you. But you learned to hide it. And people eventually forgot or ignored what you could do. But you could hide it. You can't even begin to imagine what it's like to be so wrong that you can't hide it. Me and Ken, we can't hide that we're damaged goods. I'm deaf and Kenny was only a few IQ points away from being legally retarded. There was no hiding that. Nothing could change that.

"Except something did change that. Kenneth got a brain upgrade and didn't have to have to be that person anymore. No matter how it happened, it happened. He doesn't have to be screwed up anymore. To be completely honest, because we're twins and I can't be anything other than that, but if I were him, I would be happy too. I know that he's not happy about everything that surrounded it. But he's happy about being normal for once. And I don't blame him. Because I really don't know what I would do if someone told me that they could fix my hearing and I could live my life without these stupid implants. Don't get me wrong. I love the ones Tony designed. They feel less bulky and invasive than anything I've ever worn before. But they exist and I hate them. And I wish I could hear things without them. I wish I could be normal."

Will closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. He really needed to work on thinking before speaking when it came to his brothers. He also needed to remember that both of his brothers were beyond terribly mistreated, physically, mentally and emotionally through their lives. Not just their childhood but through their teen years. Clint was lucky. He was all but adopted by Nick and Phil when he was seventeen. But Aaron wasn't. Aaron was left on his own to drift through life. He joined the army to escape the place where he was supposed to be safe and cared for. And the Army let Outcome take him. Outcome made him better but they also broke him further. Will knew that he led a charmed life compared to them. His only complaints were about his drunken absentee adopted mother and his memory. Clint and Aaron suffered so much worse. They were both the walking wounded. Will knew he had his own scars but his brothers both had gaping wounds on their psyche. He was going to need to learn to tread more carefully. He knew from birth that his brothers were different but it never mattered to him. But the rest of the world did not think like Will. It mattered and it impacted them both.

"I'm such an ass."

"Yeah, yeah you are… sometimes."

"Thanks," Will retorted while also flipping Clint off. He raked a hand through his hair. "Clint, you know that…."

"Dude, really?" Clint arched an eyebrow. "I definitely do not need insight into that brain of yours. I get it. You think we're both awesome simply because we're your brothers. And that's great. But you need to remember that not everyone thinks the way that you do."

"I get it. I do." Will sighed. "You think I should go after him?"

"Nah," Clint dismissed, stretching out and laying on his back He shifted his arm out of the sling and flexed it briefly before resting it on his stomach. "Give him some time to cool off and get his thoughts together. He probably went to find his sexy doctor lady."

Will nodded. "What do you think of Dr. Shearing?"

"She seems nice," Clint shrugged once again. Will was really going to have to work on teaching Clint some other means of nonverbal communication. Then again, that really seemed like an exercise in futility seeing as how they pretty much only talked through nonverbal communication. That's why he wasn't terribly surprised when Clint followed up his brief assessment with a, "why do you ask?"

"I don't know. Doesn't it seem weird that she was one of the doctor's working on him? I mean how can he trust her after all that? How are we supposed to trust her around him?"

Clint nodded slowly. "You trust Ethan. And he pretty much screwed you up for life."

Will glared. "Thanks, Clint. Because you know that's not something that still bothers me every now and then at all."

"Glad you're finally beginning the almost unheard of ritual of maturing and moving on. Don't bother teaching that process to me, I enjoy being an angst whore."

"You are special, little brother."

"I thought that was beyond obvious by now. But anyway, Ethan was a bad example. What about Nat? You trust her?"

"Of course. I don't think you would've made it this far in life without her."

Clint smirked. "Yeah, you're right. But anyway remember I told you I died once?"

"It's a little hard to forget something like that."

"Well, Nat is the one that killed me," Clint blurted as if he wasn't throwing out some life altering words. Will blinked.

"What the hell?"

"It was one of my first major international solo missions. I was supposed to take out the infamous Black Widow. She took out several SHIELD agents before me and I wasn't actually trying to be another one. But there was… something about her. I couldn't do it. And I knew that she felt it too. I wasn't wrong per say. Just misjudged the timing on that one." Clint smiled slightly. "In her defense, she did turn herself in to Phil and even gave him the antidote. She just misjudged the timing a little too. But it's all good. I'm here. Not dead anymore. And it was really only for like ten minutes or so. So all's well that ends well."

Will didn't reply. He literally couldn't reply. The words just wouldn't leave his mouth. Natasha killed Clint?! Natasha hurt Clint period. That was a completely foreign concept as Natasha did everything in her power (and then some) to make sure that Clint was safe. So the fact that she not only hurt Clint but actually was responsible for his albeit brief death was mindblowing. But it wasn't that he doubted her ability to kill. He knew she was a badass assassin before she joined SHIELD. She still was honestly. But… this was Natasha and Clint! If Will for one minute believed in the concept of soulmates, he figured the definition would just be a picture of those two. They were in sync in every way. They were perfect together. And the entire basis of their relationship was that he was ordered to kill her and she killed him first. Actually now that he gave it some thought, that made perfect sense. 

"So you finally told someone, huh?" Natasha's warm, amused voice pulled Will out of his thoughts. "I think you may have finally succeeded in breaking Will. Tony will be so disappointed that he wasn't present for that." Clint snorted even as she sat down next to him. He shifted so that his head was resting in her lap. One of her hands rested on his shoulder while the other was carding through his hair. Once again, Will was struck by how in sync they were with one another. His twin never liked being touched but you would never know that when he was with Natasha. The same woman who apparently killed him once. Well damn.

"How did you move past that?"

"Took time," Clint admitted. "But it wasn't that hard. Remember I was supposed to kill her. She just had more conviction than me." Natasha tapped him on the forehead. He grinned in response. "I couldn't kill her because I saw a piece of me in her."

"I saw the same," Natasha added. "Unfortunately, I wasn't overly fond of myself in those days. So I kissed him, poisoned him and then he died before I could get the antidote to Phil."

"But I came back," Clint chimed in, almost as if he was reminding her. "Because I'm magic."

"You came back because not even Death could handle your insanity. Not to mention, Wade would've likely traveled there to bring you back. You are the only person who can handle long term exposure to him." She shook her head. "You're also the only person who want to recruit the person who killed them."

"Was I wrong about you?"

Natasha tilted her head to the side seemingly contemplating the question. A slow smile formed on her lips. "No, I suppose you weren't."

"No, I definitely wasn't. And besides, temporary death was totally worth having you nurse me back to health." Natasha's head dropped as she tried to hold in the laughs threatening to emerge. Judging from the smug look on his twin's face, she failed in that too.

Despite the topic, Will found himself smiling as well. Or maybe he was just learning. Neither of his brothers had the most functional of childhoods. The way they saw the word was different but it didn't mean that it was wrong. They had severe trust issues and if they were choosing to trust these women then that was enough for him. He didn't know Marta that well (yet) but he knew Natasha. He knew that despite the messed up circumstances behind their meeting, the Black Widow and the Hawk were meant to be together. They complimented one another. They were partners in every sense of the word. Soulmates. He snorted, shaking his head. 

"Will, you know that…."

"I know," he cut her off with a smile and a nod. And he did know. He knew that Natasha loved his brother. He knew that Clint was never safer than when he was with his partner. "So what are you doing up here anyway? I thought you were torturing Steve. Oops, I mean training with Steve."

"You had it right the first time," Clint corrected, earning a smack to his non injured shoulder. "My very awesome twin has a point though. Why aren't you avenging my honor, woman?"

"Because I need your help dealing with your very insane pseudo sister who seems to have gone even further over the deep end. She's got Loki and Thor working on some sort of revenge scheme against Tony using black magic and Steve is flailing. Tony is naturally actively challenging them to do it. Benji and Bruce are similarly of no help because… science."

"Why now?"

"Tony took Darcy's phone and keeps implying that she's dating Loki because Tony doesn't have his number."

Clint sat up slowly but with way more ease than he'd managed in the past two days. "Okay, one, I have Loki's number too. Tony just doesn't have it because he would totally call Loki up at inappropriate hours of the day to ask him whatever question popped into his insomniac mind. And two, I wish Darcy was dating Loki instead of that hot headed show off Johnny Storm."

"You'd rather the woman that we both think of as a little sister date a thousand plus year old god who was once coerced into subjugating the world than the human who is actually closer to her age?"

Both Natasha and Clint raised their eyebrows in his direction. "You've never actually met Johnny, huh? The dude is more impulsive than me. That's a problem." Natasha nodded her head. Of course she would agree…. Then again, Will was a little concerned now too. He made a mental note to have a talk with this Johnny Storm. Right after he made things right with their brother. Besides he had no doubt that when Aaron finally settled in, he would take to Darcy too. That might make the whole 'hurt her and die' conversation even more interesting.

"Oh, so that's what the 'plotting the destruction of other people' face looks like," Clint murmured. "You're right. That's awesome."  
__________________________________________________________________________________

He knew it was ridiculously childish to storm off like that but he really couldn't help it. There were so many things he wanted, needed, to say to his brothers but he couldn't. It scared him how much he needed them to accept him. Aaron was used to being on his own and now he was one of three and the other two were part of a seemingly never-ending hoard of people (super powered and not). It was overwhelming sometimes. Actually it was overwhelming all of the time. He just wished he could have just five minutes to sort through his thoughts and find some kind of peace. But everywhere he went he was running into someone. He was actually surprised he made it this far without anyone.... 

"Agent Cross?"

He stopped short, instinct causing his body to tense before he placed the voice. He turned slowly to face the SHIELD agent behind him. Aaron really didn't know what to think of Jasper Sitwell. On the surface, he seemed like another suit. But there was something else there. Maybe it was because despite the fact that he vocally disavowed everything pertaining to the Avengers, he was a constant fixture in the Tower since their return from Manila. Tony said it was because he was worried about Clint and Will. That confused Aaron even more because Jasper and Clint seemed to think that the sole reason for their existence was to make each other as miserable as possible. But Tony wasn't the only one that thought that Jasper was worried about the twins. Natasha and Bruce confirmed that as well. And judging from the quick glance before his features were set in a more neutral look, Jasper's concern wasn't exclusive to just the twins.

"Didn't mean to startle you," he apologized. "You looked a little lost."

"Yeah," Aaron replied, tension slowly bleeding out. "Have you seen Dr. Shearing?"

"She's most likely in the lab with Dr. Banner. Thankfully Stark and Dunn are out torturing Darcy or I'd be worried that they're corrupting her with their convoluted idea of science which is just code for making stuff explode."

Aaron's brow furrowed. "Should I be concerned?"

"Every damn day," Jasper shook his head. "But they're harmless… for the most part. They're just in the habit of creating havoc and chaos in the name of science. I'd be careful. It's only a matter of time before they start trying to recruit you. I'm surprised it's taken them this long. They grabbed Will about five minutes after he signed his transfer papers."

Aaron nodded slowly. This was not helping him feel any less overwhelmed. He literally went from having no social contact save for conversations with his clinically detached doctors to being surrounded 24/7 by people. People who were all too interested in the mysterious third brother, especially the female Avengers (and affiliated staff). He was brought back to reality when he heard a loud buzzing next to his ear. He swatted at what he thought was a large bug when it squeaked indignantly in his direction. He turned his head to the left to see a tiny woman with wings. When she saw his attention was focused on her, she smiled and waved.

What. The. Actual. Hell?

"Janet," Jasper sighed. "What did Director Fury say about bothering Agent Cross?"

The tiny woman heaved a large sigh before slowly growing until she was a normal sized woman. Her hands rested on her hips as she glared in Jasper's direction. He seemed largely unconcerned.

"It's not fair. Why do both Darcy and Natasha get to spend time with the new guy but I'm banned?"

"Ms. Lewis is Agent Coulson's assistant and a resident of the Tower. As you are already aware, Agent Romanov is also a resident of the Tower and Agent Barton's partner. They have the right to spend time with Agent Cross. And even they have taken a hands off approach. You, Ms. Van Dyne, don't know the meaning of the words 'hands off'. Your enthusiasm comes across... a little strong. So one day, when Agent Cross has settled in, you too will be allowed to 'spend time with the new guy'. But today is not that day. Now isn't there a sale or something going on somewhere other than this building?"

Janet narrowed her eyes before returning to her smaller form and flying away. A flurry of muttered curses followed in her wake. Aaron chewed on his bottom lip.

"JARVIS should be able to direct you to Dr. Banner's lab," Jasper said. Aaron was relieved that he didn't volunteer to come with him. He really, really, needed to talk to Marta and get all of his thoughts in his head straight before he ruined everything with his brothers. Well more than he probably already did by storming away like that. And great the bad thoughts were back.

Aaron nodded his thanks to Jasper and followed the directions that the Tower's AI was giving him. Thankfully the rest of the trip to the lab passed without incident. He did walk past Loki and Thor. The two gods were arguing over whether they could substitute a live animal sacrifice with the store bought lamb for some ritual they were performing. Aaron almost stopped but he remembered that both Clint and Will told him never to engage either Loki or Thor without backup and definitely never engage when they were together, even with backup. So he kept moving and let out an audible sigh of relief when he finally reached Bruce's lab.

The doors slid open with a quiet hiss prompting both doctors to look up from their various screens. For a moment, Aaron was jealous of Marta. She looked like she belonged there. She was acclimating to the chaos while he was flailing around feeling useless, stupid… like Kenneth all over again.

"Hello, Aaron," Bruce gave him a soft smile. He studied him for moment with understanding eyes before standing. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go find Tony. It doesn't bode well when he's out of my eyesight for too long."

He was out the door before Aaron could even process the flimsy lie much less form a response. He let out a slow breath as it was just him and Marta for the first time in days. He sat down on the comfortable looking sofa set up in the corner of the lab by the window. Marta joined him a moment later, taking his hand in hers.

"What's going on?" she asked quietly.

"I'm going to screw this up," he admitted. His voice barely above a whisper, yet it sounded so loud in the silence of the lab. "I don't know who I'm supposed to be. They want me to be the brother they remember but I know if can go back to being Kenneth again. I don't want to go back to that. But I also don't know if being Aaron is any better. Aaron would've willingly forgotten all about his brothers so that I could stay this way. I forced you to fly across the world just so that I could stay smart. Aaron isn't that great either."

Marta squeezed his fingers. "You can't pick between them because they're both a part of who you are. Whether you want to admit it or not, you're Kenneth. You're also their brother, no matter what. I don't really know them that well but I don't think that they care that much about your name. I think they care more about you. As for Aaron, he makes some questionable decisions but no matter what, he's a hero." She paused. "My hero. Because you may have taken me across the world but you also saved my life. I would've followed you anywhere at that point."

Aaron sat back on the seat, taking a deep calming breath and let Marta's words wash over him. While he wasn't proud of everything he did as Aaron Cross, he did enjoy being Aaron. But he also enjoyed being back with his brothers. Despite the personality differences between him and Will and Clint's obvious insanity, Aaron wanted nothing more than to get to know his brothers as mental equals. He wanted to make up for the thirty one years of their lives when he couldn't look out for them like they looked out for him. But he couldn't even figure out something as simple as a name. Marta made it sound like it was easy. Like he could have it all… and maybe it was. Maybe he was both. Both names were the foundation of the man he currently was. And he couldn't be all bad if he had a woman like Marta smiling at him like that. He smiled in return.

"Thank you, Marta."

"It's what I'm here for."

"About that… If you wanted to leave, you could…. I wouldn't be mad or anything. I'm sure with SHIELD's resources they could set you up so far off the grid that Byer would never find you."

Marta shook her head with the smile still intact. "I'm sure they could. But I'm staying with you. And you need to be here. You need to be with your brothers. Besides, Bruce spoke to Agent Coulson and they think they may be able to fit me in a position in the Science Department at SHIELD. I need to do something good with my knowledge and I think I can at SHIELD. I think I can help."

"You have helped. You helped me and I will never forget that."

Marta's smile grew brighter and he couldn't help but smile wider in response. He felt better than he had in a very long time. He felt… settled. Though he told her she could leave, Aaron was not so secretly happy that she was staying. It would take a while for the Tower to feel like home but Will, Clint and Marta were home to him. He was happy that she was staying.

"Aaron, I…." she trailed off as her eyes flickered from his eyes to his lips. He swallowed, leaning closer to her.

"I know… me too," he whispered. Her head tilted closer. He could feel her breath on his lips. They both smiled softly before….

"I told you he was going to find the sexy doctor lady."

"You didn't say we were going to catch them making out."

"I figured it was implied."

Aaron groaned as he reluctantly separated from Marta to glare at the twins standing in the doorway. Neither of them had the decency to look even remotely remorseful. Clint was smirking. Man, he hated/loved that little bastard.

"Don't stop on our account," Will said, with an equally smug smirk of his own. "We've seen worse."

"Well, Will has walked in on worse," Clint corrected. "I haven't because he won't man up and admit that he and Jane are basically dating. It's kind of sad really because we all know it by now."

Aaron had to laugh at the furious red that spread over Will's face. The oldest of the twins took a brief moment to compose himself before punching Clint on the shoulder. He ducked the return blow and moved to stand in front of Aaron.

"I owe you an apology. I'm really sorry. I have foot to mouth disease. It's a terrible by product of prolonged exposure to Ethan Hunt."

Aaron grinned. "I'm sorry too, bro. I think we all have a lot to work on."

"Speak for yourselves. I'm frigging perfect. It's taken years to develop into this much of a contradiction."

"Whatever, Clint," Will rolled his eyes fondly. He looked back at Aaron. "So you and I apparently have a lot to work on."

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, we do. But we'll do it together. He stuck out a hand. "All for one?"

"And one for all," Will finished.

"Awww," Clint cooed, draping an arm around Will's shoulders, prompting the oldest twin to do the same to Aaron. Aaron didn't think he would ever get used to how in unison they were even after all these years. "I think my heart just grew three sizes bigger."

"Too bad your brain couldn't do the same," Aaron shot back.

"Oh, brotherly sass. I approve!" Clint chirped, smiling wide. "So brother, what's the verdict? Did you figure out what we should be calling you?"

"Yeah, actually I'm both. I'm Kenneth and I'm Aaron. But for legal purposes, I guess my name is Aaron Kenneth Cross."

Aaron felt even more settled as his brothers smiled in unison. Yeah, it might not feel like home in the Tower (yet) but right here… these three people… that felt like home. He felt like he belonged for the first time in his life.

"Well its Aaron Kenneth Cross until the crazy man gets his way. And let's face facts, he probably will eventually because he's crazy and rich. That's a dangerous combination. I'm telling you. Give him a year and we're going to be the Stark triplets."

Aaron frowned. "Wait, he wasn't joking about that?"

"No," the twins responded in unison.

"Oh, well is it too late to talk about me moving out?"

"Yes."

"You're stuck with us now," Will grinned. "You're one of us." 

"One of us," Clint echoed in a distorted voice. Aaron rolled his eyes but didn't bother to hide the smile on his face.

Yeah, for right now this was home and it felt pretty damn good.  
__________________________________________________________________________________

Phil knew that the key to being an effective handler was to somehow build a relationship with an asset where there was mutual trust but also have strong and effective boundaries as well. In other words, it was difficult but he managed. There needed to be a level of trust but crossing lines was strongly discouraged in SHIELD. Handlers and assets could be friends but the word family was like a foreign concept. It was hard enough to send a friend into a dangerous situation with little to no backup. It was damn near impossible to send someone you thought of as a sibling or heaven forbid a child into a warzone.

And yet, from the minute Fate handed him a seventeen year old, scrawny, mouthy archer/assassin that is exactly what Phil did. Though there was barely a fifteen year age difference between them, Phil couldn't help but think of Clint as the son he never intended to have but was very happy to have around. He thought his newfound paternal instincts would extend to Natasha (once he got over that whole she killed Clint thing) but he found he was able to see her as an asset and not as a long lost daughter. That worked out in the long run. Otherwise the whole Clint/Natasha relationship would be a little weird.

But Clint managed to stay the only asset he had that held the role of son in his eyes. Phil knew that before Clint became a field agent, many of the SHIELD staff referred to him as Phil's son. Of course never to his face but Clint had a habit of being places no one expected him to be and Jasper was in the habit of sharing gossip he found amusing. Phil accepted the gossip and the looks and flak that he got for it. He didn't really care. He came to terms with the fact that he wasn't going to settle down and get married and have kids. SHIELD meant too much for him to do that. Then he met Clint and he got the kid he never thought he needed while Clint got the father and structure he needed to make sure he wasn't… well Wade. But aside from them mutually saving one another from a lifetime of loneliness, Clint helped Phil get something he never would've been able to get on his own: his mother's complete happiness. Phil never thought his mother could be as happy as she was the day she met the then 18 year old Clint on a surprise trip to New York. He was wrong. Because she was practically exploding with happiness when she met Will two months ago. He wondered if her heart could take the fact that there were now three of them. Well that is if his brothers could convince him to stay.

"'Sup, Agent." Phil shook off his triplet centered thoughts to look at Tony lounging in the doorway of his office. He was wearing his usual smirk but this one seemed even more smug than usual. "So how was your day?"

"Great until a certain assistant of mine handed me a form commonly used when an agent or asset is killed in the line of duty. I can only infer from her muttering about annoying genius billionaires that you did something to her…. Again. So what now?"

"I may or may not have implied that she was dating Loki. I may or may not have also stolen her phone to send that message to the overgrown Matchstick she's actually dating."

Phil cocked his head to the side. "You have the mentality of a five year old. Amazing."

"Thanks!" Tony grinned, crossing his arms over his chest. The motion blocked the soft light of the arc reactor from illuminating Phil's dimly lit office. "By the way, the other thing I was working on is done."

"How did you manage to pull that off while also harassing Darcy?"

Tony shrugged. "I'm awesome at multitasking."

Phil smiled faintly. "I'm very happy that you're on our side, Mr. Stark."

"Me too," Tony replied with a similar smile. "That tool Byer is going to wish I was on his side too. Because by this time tomorrow everything he's worked so hard to cover up is going to be plastered on every newspaper and news station across the world. I took the information that journalist Simon Ross complied. I seriously wonder about the government sometimes. They really thought they got it all but they didn't. Guy was good, I'll give him that. And his death wasn't in vain. It's all out there now. There will be no cover-up. They won't be able to move fast enough to cover this one up."

Phil nodded solemnly. He trusted Tony. He knew that the genius knew what was at stake here. But he also knew that Nick was already on this. Tony started the ball rolling but Nick would finish it. It was truly over. For now. Phil wasn't naïve enough to believe that there weren't more projects just like these out there. But this one was personal. There would be no mercy for anyone involved in anything related to Outcome, Treadstone, Blackbriar or LARX.

He smiled. "Good job, Tony."

"Thanks, Phil," Tony ducked his head for a minute before shifting in place. Two years of being on a team and he was still uncomfortable with genuine gratitude. It was kind of adorable. After a moment, he cleared his throat. "So you going to go recruit your newest kid now? You think your mom is going to be able to handle three of them?"

"She's going to have to," Phil snorted. "While I'm doing that, make sure you apologize to Darcy. There still might be time to call off Thor and Loki. Buy her something nice."

"Already done," Tony smirked. "Happy should've just dropped of the brand new, not even released yet iPhone I got for her. Why she continues to use Apple products over the far more superior Stark tech, I'll never understand."

"It's probably because you bug all of your tech."

Tony arched an eyebrow. "You do realize that I bug everything. Not just Stark tech."

"Privacy, Tony. Have you heard of it?"

"Yeah, it's boring."

"Seriously, you have the mentality and maturity level of an ill-tempered five year old."

"Seriously, Agent, that's not news. Pepper could've told you that."

"She did."

"…. Wait, what?"


	6. Tying Up Loose Ends

Once Aaron settled the issue of his name, another equally as pressing concern made itself known. Marta told him she was staying and working for SHIELD. Both his brothers worked for SHIELD. It seemed like a logical conclusion that he should also work for SHIELD. But at the same time, did he really want to tie himself to yet another government agency with another handler making his decisions for him? Could he really live through that again? Could he really place control of his life and his choices in the hands of someone else? Did he really think he was able to trust anyone like that after everything he went through with the Army and Outcome.

"Ah, Aaron, I was just coming to find you."

Aaron jerked his head to the left, not surprised to see the Suit… Phil approaching him. To say that he was a Suit, Phil was surprisingly difficult to read. The few Suits that Aaron was forced to interact with through his time with Outcome were all just bureaucrats. They weren't soldiers. They were fancily dressed liars that used people like Aaron as pawns. But Phil was different. Aaron saw from his interactions with Agent Sitwell and the rest of the Avengers that Phil definitely didn't think of any of them as pawns. He especially did not think of Clint as a pawn. That seemed to extend to Will. At first, Aaron thought that Phil favored Will because of his attachment to Clint but as he observed them over the past week, he realized that it may have started that way but Phil seemed to adore Will on an equal level as Clint. And it was becoming increasingly more obvious that despite the walls Aaron tried to desperately construct between him and anyone that didn't share his face, Phil cared about Aaron the same way.

That was evident in the way the older man was simply standing in front of Aaron, silently and patiently waiting for the conflicted super soldier to collect his thoughts enough to reply. Though Phil's face was blank as always, his green eyes were kind, patient and caring. It was foreign concept to Aaron. He didn't understand how that look could come from anyone wearing a suit. He didn't understand why he believed it coming from a Suit…. But he did.

"I, uh, was actually looking for you too," Aaron finally mumbled. He watched as Phil arched one eyebrow gracefully.

"Really? Why?"

"Well, for starters, I wanted to apologize to you."

Now Phil's brow furrowed as if he couldn't possibly imagine what Aaron would be apologizing for. Aaron smiled faintly, knowing that Will was most likely on the receiving end of that look very often. They were only back together a few weeks and Aaron already remembered (and witnessed) Will's particular brand of self-induced guilt and martyrdom. Will seemed determined to take the blame for all the ills of the world… especially ills perpetrated by his twin. The most glaring example was the morning that Will spent apologizing almost endlessly to Ethan after Clint pushed his wheelchair out the infirmary window and straight down onto Ethan's car. Aaron probably would've felt bad as well if he wasn't so busy marveling at Clint's aim. They were 65 stories up. That was amazing. Oh, yeah and bad. Very bad. No wonder Will had that complex. Really needed to work on that.

Aaron shook his head as if trying to physically dislodge the circuitous thoughts going through his mind. Phil gave him a faint hint of a smile. Aaron shrugged. "I wanted to apologize for the way that I've treated you since you recovered Marta and I from Manila."

"Oh, you mean the part where you only refer to me as the Suit?" Phil asked with a huff of laughter. Aaron flushed. "It's okay. Did Clint ever tell you how we first met?"

"Yeah, he told me that he met you guys at a HYDRA cell when he was sixteen. Then he was with Deadpool for a year and then he was back at SHIELD."

"Did he ever happen to tell you the charming little nickname he came up for me and Nick during our first meeting?"

"No," Aaron replied slowly. Clint never spoke of either Phil or Nick with anything other than complete loyalty and admiration. But he also knew how the youngest twin's brain worked. He could only imagine what the sixteen year old, justifiably angry and defensive version of his baby brother could come up with. He wasn't left to imagine for long.

"He called us Secret Agents Thing 1 and 2. He was never clear on which one of us was 1 or 2," Phil's lips twisted into a faint smirk. "He kept it up for a few months after we brought him in full time. I never really minded, to be honest. I don't think Nick even registered it. Even now I'd take that over Wade's weird nicknames. He keeps calling me Cheese. I have no idea where he got that one from or why he insists that it should be my codename." Aaron felt a smile form almost against his will. "And for the record, Will was just as bad as Clint. I told him to call me Phil pretty much the day we met. I think he's only recently stopped calling me Agent Phil."

Aaron snickered. He could almost picture that and if he actually gave it some thought, he could see Will struggling to get used to talking to a superior agent in a non-formal setting. While he was more inclined to give respect than Clint (and Aaron), Will was just as much of a smartass as his brothers. The Agent Phil name was just his way of both rebelling and showing respect for the rules. His brothers were so bizarrely adorable and damaged.

"I guess I'm not too off then, huh?"

Phil shook his head. "Not at all, Aaron. You're not off at all."

Aaron couldn't help the warm fuzzy feeling that spread through him at Phil's firm, no nonsense response. He tried to ignore the smile he knew was on his face and instead cleared his throat.

"Well that wasn't the only reason I wanted to talk to you. I also wanted… I wanted to say that… I want to stay."

"Really?" Phil crossed his arms over his chest. The tablet in his hand was now flush against his chest. "Why do you want to stay?"

Aaron swallowed. "Them, mostly. Being around them feels… right. I've felt more like who I'm supposed to be with them around than I have in almost thirty years. But even more than just them, I was created, literally, to be a super soldier. It's in my blood. I don't think I could be an accountant or a truck driver. None of those sound even remotely interesting to be honest. Though I think I would die if I had to be a paper pusher like Will was. That sounds horrible."

"Please tell me that you don't have the same allergy to paperwork that Clint has."

Aaron widened his eyes in a horribly failed attempt at innocence. "I have no idea to what you're referring."

"Of course you don't," Phil smirked. "So you've obviously given this some thought. Any place in particular you were thinking of applying those skills?"

"I was hoping there might be a spot with SHIELD. I don't really think the Avengers need another super soldier, not to mention they see some things…." Aaron shook his head as some of the stranger cases his brother faced came back to him. "Besides, they're a bit too public for me. I think I'm better off in the shadows. Besides SHIELD is so secret, I could be in front of Byer and he probably wouldn't see me. Maybe he'll give up eventually."

Phil's grin grew a little more genuine. He motioned for Aaron to follow him. The fact that Aaron did move after him without hesitation was surprising to both of them. Aaron let the older man lead him to one of the many television lounges in the building. Aaron made a mental note to be concerned about the amount of televisions they had access to in this building. Who was really watching that much TV?

Aaron snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Phil guide him to a seat while also turning on the widescreen, too damn big television set. He watched as Phil channel surfed with seemingly no pattern until he finally settled on a news program. Aaron opened his mouth to comment on that when he finally saw what captured Phil's attention.

_'Shocking news out of DC. Top secret information has been leaked to news sources across the world detailing government funded experiments on human beings. It appears that there have been numerous attempts at creating so called super soldiers. Earlier this week, CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landry and a man identified only as Jason Bourne brought similar information to the attention of the world. Government officials were quick to dismiss the testimonials as unfounded rumors and lies. But the documents that have come to light shared even more gruesome details about the scandal and the lengths they have taken to cover it all up. Several high ranking government officials have been detained for a more formal inquiry. But sources are reporting that the information leaked has been verified and is solid proof against these individuals. More on this story as it develops."_

Aaron was grateful that he was sitting or he was pretty sure he would've hit the floor. Phil muted the television and continued to stand next to him. He never got too close but just close enough that Aaron could feel the quiet support he was offering by simply being there.

"I think you'll find that Mr. Byer and his associates will no longer be a concern for you. They've been exposed on a world wide level. It's probably easier to say on a Stark-wide level."

Aaron's eyes widened. "Tony did this?"

"Yes, well Tony with a little help from Nick no doubt. But I'm sure Stark will take full credit for this one."

"Why?"

"I assume that you're not asking why Tony would take full credit. You've been around him for over two weeks. I would hope by now that you figured out that he's an attention seeking brat at times," Phil grinned. Aaron nodded with a smile of his own. "Well to answer your question, it's because what they were doing was wrong. Because we care about you, Aaron. Because you're their brother. There are probably at least a hundred good reasons why Tony did this but I think the most important for him, and for all of us, is so that you could be free."

"Free," Aaron whispered around the sudden lump in his throat. He had no idea what that even felt like. He never really gave it much thought. Before the Army, he thought he would be trapped at Berwin or places just like it. Then after the Army, Outcome happened and he never thought he'd be free of the chemicals that finally liberated his mind and body. Even when Marta told him about the process to rid him of his chemical dependence, he felt certain that he would always have a target on his back. But now…. Now Outcome was gone. He was truly free. For the first damn time in his life he was free.

"It's over," he said, although it sounded slightly like a question even to his own ears.

"You are free to go where you want, whenever you want. So you sure you don't want that truck driver job after all?"

Aaron gave a startled laugh and shrugged. He didn't know what to think at the moment. This definitely wasn't anything he ever expected but it was happening. He could go anywhere. He could do anything… yet…

"Clint!"

Aaron raised an eyebrow as he heard his brother's name bellowed from outside. He and Phil walked to the window. From where they stood they could see into the courtyard just outside the infirmary. As they were only two stories above, Aaron could clearly make out his youngest brother's smirking features. The reason for his amusement, as well as the source of the irritated yell, was none other than Clint's usual target for his occasional displays of juvenile amusement and torture, Jasper Sitwell. Aaron watched as Clint wheeled around the courtyard in the Stark modified wheelchair they used to replace the previously discarded model. He was somehow managing to dodge Jasper's attempts at grabbing him. Aaron would be worried about what that said about the agent's skills but Aaron had enough experience at this point to know that the things that Tony built sometimes defied logic and the laws of physics and nature. Frigging science.

Aaron's head tilted to the side as he felt a spark of amusement that was not his own. He wasn't surprised to see Will perched atop one of the courtyard tables, hunched over and blatantly laughing as Jasper failed to catch the smug archer. Aaron took a moment to study the middle brother. Will was dressed casually today. Benji told Aaron that Will almost never wore anything other than a suit until he and Clint found one another. And even then he was still almost always wearing a suit and tie. But ever since the three brothers reunited and were back at the Tower, Aaron had yet to see Will in anything other than jeans. Fall was coming to an end and there was a slight chill was in the air though the sun was shining brightly. Will was wearing the same purple hoodie that he claimed to hate. He looked happy. Aaron found that he liked this version of his brother. For once Aaron didn't see the shadows in Will's eyes. He didn't see the metaphorical weight of the world weighing him down. For once Will looked his age. It was a good look on him.

"Barton, wheel your ass over here!"

"Hell no! Do I look stupid to you?" he paused briefly to jab a finger in Will's direction. "Keep your comments to yourself and just remember that we're identical, jerk!"

Will held his hands up in mock innocence but Aaron felt his sarcastic glee. The smirk playing on his lips didn't lend much credibility to that innocence but Clint was oblivious as he resumed dodging Jasper once again. Aaron felt Will's emotions even stronger as the middle brother looked up to meet his gaze. The smirk turned into a genuine smile that Aaron knew was matched on his own face. Will gave a little wave before gesturing towards Clint and Sitwell's bizarre chase. Aaron smiled wider.

He was free to do or be whoever he wanted to be wherever he wanted for the first time in his life. And right now all he wanted to be was a big brother. Everything else could be filled in later. All he really wanted to, no, all he really needed was to be right here, right now. Smiling wider than he had in years, he opened the window. But first he turned to Phil.

"So yeah, I was serious about that job. Can't wait. Really."

With that said, Aaron launched himself out the window, climbing down most of the way and jumping the rest to land in a graceful crouch next to the now stationary Clint (who was midway through attempting to use Will as a human shield). Jasper stopped, looking between the three brothers and then to the still observing Phil above.

"No," Jasper shook his head. "I refuse to deal with three of them, Phil."

"It's not so bad," Phil yelled back. "At least one and a half of them are somewhat sane."

Will and Aaron exchanged glances. "You're the half," they shouted in unison. Clint shook his head.

"So glad we all know that I'm the totally crazy one."

"Not something to be proud of," Will reminded him. Clint shrugged. Jasper blanched.

"There are three of them. I'm so done. I quit."

"You can't quit. You have a contract!"

"I'm breaching it."

"Whiner!"

"I swear to god, I'm going to shoot you, Barton! Cripple or not!"

"Will, you're supposed to defend my honor when people threaten to shoot me." 

"Yeah, but you deserve it this time. You should know better than now to mess with Sitwell. His hairloss has led to complex feelings of rage and aggression that cause him to lash out." 

"You know he's going to kill you too, right?" 

"I kinda figured."   
__________________________________________________________________________________

Despite his ongoing hate affair with the wheelchair, Clint had to admit that there were some advantages the chair. For one, his still slowly healing leg didn't hurt as bad when he was keeping the weight off of it. And on that note, he was seriously campaigning for some of whatever Aaron got juiced with. They were shot at the same time in roughly the same place and yet the oldest brother was skipping around like nothing happened. It was so not fair. Then again the fact that he was practically healed and Clint was not was probably the reason that Aaron was usually the first to volunteer for the second advantage of being stuck in a wheelchair. That, of course, being that there was always someone volunteering to push the chair. Not that Clint really needed the assistance when he was in Tony's tricked out chair… but he was forced to leave that one behind when they went out in public. Something about not attracting more attention than they already did. Whatever that was supposed to mean. So he was back to needing someone to help him since he couldn't really get around as easily in a normal wheelchair with only one functioning arm.

The self-appointed Clint pushers for the afternoon were none other than his very own brothers. Shortly after Jasper's breakdown, Phil ordered them to clear out for a while and find someone else to harass. After sixteen years of dealing with Jasper and his rage fits, Clint knew that was just code for go hang out somewhere else until Jasper got over his little rage moment. Clint mostly agreed because he really did believe that the sight of all of three of them together was enough to finally cause the usually composed agent to mentally break down. This time he may actually need to bribe his way back into Jasper's somewhat good graces. Sadly, it was an all too familiar routine for Clint. He's had to do it before and he's sure that he'll most likely have to bribe him again in his lifetime. Hell, probably even in the next month. Fortunately, he knew exactly what to do. This time it was fixable by appealing to Jasper's weakness. Clint remembered one occasion where it wasn't that easy. But the less that was said about the whole super Nair incident of '05 the better. Clint would go to his grave stating that it was so not his fault that Jasper's hair never grew back.

At any rate, Clint knew that if he, or anyone that looked like him, wanted to avoid being shot on sight upon returning to the Tower, he needed an awesome bribe. And sixteen years allowed for excellent insight into the proper ways to bribe the man. Jasper had a sweet tooth like no other and had developed somewhat of an addiction to the cinnamon rolls from The Stand. Clint couldn't blame him. He was almost completely certain that the white powder sprinkled across the top wasn't sugar, it was pure crack. Those things were so damn good. And he knew that Jasper wouldn't shoot him with a box of those in his hands. So he cleared out and made his way to The Stand with Will and Aaron on either side of Clint's chair, each with a hand on one of the handles. Normally, Clint hated the wheelchair because it made him feel weak and vulnerable. But right now, he felt safe and comfortable. And he knew it absolutely had everything to do with the two of them. He felt surprisingly okay with that.

"Huh, I just realized something." Clint tilted his head back to get a better look at his twin on his left. He arched an eyebrow. "This is where it all began."

"Yeah, you're right," Clint murmured. Seven months ago, they had no idea the other existed. It was all a matter of chance that bought Tony and Thor to their favorite coffee shop at the same time as Will and Benji. But that meeting sparked a series of events that led to the three of them all being reunited after twenty six years apart. And it all started at The Stand with Delilah and her need to fuss over Clint and people who looked like him and….. "Oh, shit!"

"What?"

"I can't go in there looking like this!" Clint gestured to his sling encased arm and the wheelchair. "Delilah will never let us leave again. I mean she's probably already going to want to keep us there for life when she realizes that there are three of us. But she'll never let me go home again if she sees this."

"Melodramatic but accurate," Will agreed. Aaron's brow furrowed. Clint could feel the question buzzing through their connection. Will met his confused gaze. "Delilah is like our unofficial grandmother. Of course our official but not really grandmother is Phil's mom. She makes awesome chicken dumplings by the way. Anyway, Delilah has decided that despite Clint's obvious full on crazy, she loves him and wants to protect him. I'm not quite sure what she thinks he does for a living because he constantly looks like he went five rounds with a meat cleaver but whatever. Looking like him gets us delicious goodies for free. So no complaints."

Aaron snorted. "And then sometimes it's beyond obvious that you two came from the same egg." He nodded at Clint. "So you want to stay out here? You sure you'll be okay?"

Clint narrowed his eyes. "Dude, you're parking me in front of a coffee shop in Midtown at one in the afternoon. I think I'll find a way to survive without you two."

"You want I should get you a cup or something," Will grinned. "You could collect some spare change or something. Maybe finally start earning your keep around here."

"I take back every nice thing I've ever said about this whole triplet thing. It's making his sarcasm worse," Clint groused. He complained even louder as Will ruffled his hair. He felt that he was completely justified in punching him in the gut in retaliation, even if Aaron didn't.

The oldest brother simply shook his head and separated the twins, pushing one in front of him and into the store and silently ordering the other to stay put. Clint rolled his eyes. Where the hell was he going to go anyway? He was pretty sure that Bruce would full on kill him if he managed to lose or damage yet another wheelchair. So he went where the chair went. And, as far as he was concerned, that meant that he was going nowhere. Unfortunately, he wasn't the one making that decision as he felt his chair moving backwards suddenly.

Clint snapped his head up and glanced over his shoulder to see who was moving the chair. His brothers were still in the shop. He could see Delilah pinching Aaron's cheeks much to Will's obvious delight. So if they were there, then who the hell was manhandling his chair? He frowned when he couldn't make out a face only a gun. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, resigned to let this play out as it would. He only had to wait a few short minutes as he was led into an alley around the corner from the shop. He rolled his eyes again. Really? How cliché. The dude was probably going to monologue at some point. Was there no creativity in the villains these days? He felt justified in calling his would be kidnapper a villain because really? Who else would take a seemingly helpless man in a wheelchair into an alley at gunpoint but a villain?

"So," Clint drawled as they finally came to a stop. "Are you in the habit of regularly kidnapping crippled dudes off the street or was there an actual point to this? And it better be good. You just screwed my streak. I almost made it three months without disappearing or being kidnapped. Now I'm never going to hear the end of it. Oh well, so who are you and why are you pointing a gun to my head in a dark, creepy alley?"

The man towering over him (still with the gun aimed at Clint's head) looked faintly surprised at Clint's outburst. His brown eyes were wide open and Clint could practically read the confusion there. But he could also tell that the man wasn't confused that he just kidnapped a man, more like just realizing that he most likely grabbed the wrong one. Judging from the way he was grabbed, Clint knew his new friend was expecting a certain person based off the face but now that he opened his mouth, the speech patterns were all wrong. Clint sighed, realizing that for the second time in the seven months he knew he had brothers, he had just been kidnapped because he shared a face with two other people. Damn triplet shenanigans working against him!

"You're not Aaron," the man finally said. His voice was awed and quiet. "You look just like him but you're…. you're not him."

"That's correct. Definitely not Aaron."

"So it's true. There really was more than one. I didn't think that it was possible. But Aaron really did have a brother."

"You know, I'd ask how you heard about that but if I've learned anything through my years as a superhero, it's that you bad guy types love to monologue about the evil things you do. And nothing could possibly be worse than actually experimenting on babies and/or the mentally ill. So yeah, the rumors are true. There are more than one of us running around. Imagine this beautiful face everywhere you see," Clint quipped. "Now tell me if I'm wrong here, Captain Obvious. But judging from the fact that you clearly know who Aaron is and from the gun still pointed at me, you want to shoot him, so I'm guessing you must be Byer."

"He talked about me?"

"Not exactly. Mentioned you once but I mostly know your name from Tony. You know Tony… Tony Stark aka the guy that ended your career and pretty much the careers of anyone associated with Outcome, Treadstone, Blackbriar and LARX"

Byer glared, his hold tightening on the gun. "And that's why I want to shoot you. Aaron and that flashy bastard Stark ruined my life."

Clint scoffed. "I feel bad about that. Really. I do. My heart bleeds for you, dude."

"No, it doesn't. Not yet anyway. But you will. You will bleed before this is over. I'm going to use you as bait to lure your twin out. And then I'm going to kill you both."

Clint nodded slowly, his lips pursed in thought. "Hmm, solid plan, aside from the whole ridiculous movie villain monologue. Just three not exactly inconsequential issues with the plan."

"Oh yeah. And what would those be?"

"Well, one it's pretty safe to say that you're screwed without backup. I assume you know what Aaron is capable of and I hope you don't think that you or that gun is going to be able to take him down before he gets to you. And please don't bother pointing out that you did bring backup because those pathetic wastes of flesh shouldn't count as backup for anything seeing how easy it was to take them out. That bring us to number two which is that Aaron is already here and he's pretty pissed off,"Clint grinned. He felt a more incessant buzzing in the back of his head. And one day he would actually try and understand how and why he knew how to identify his brothers simply by emotion in only a week but that was neither here nor there. Now, he was going to enjoy watching them kick ass and take names.

"You said there were three problems. What's the third?" Byer asked, eyes darting around the alley.

"Oh, that's the real kicker there. See the thing is Aaron is not my twin. Will is and he really has this thing about people pointing guns at me. It bothers him. Makes him all twitchy and aggressive."

"Huh?"

Clint looked to the shadows beyond Byer. "You could've mentioned that the dude you were that paranoid about really isn't that bright."

"Well, in my defense he seemed a lot smarter than me at the time," Aaron's voice sounded somewhere above them. "But I guess unemployment and world wide blacklisting has made him a little desperate." There was a noticeable pause. "And stupid."

"Aaron?" Byer asked. He looked around as if trying to glimpse the oldest triplet. Clint resisted the urge to laugh. Did the man know absolutely nothing about Aaron? The oldest brother was the only one who came close to Clint's level of stealth. He wasn't seen unless he wanted you to. The archer didn't fight the urge to sigh though. Really? This was the guy that Aaron was so afraid of?

"Show yourself, Aaron, or I swear I will shoot your little twin here."

"Damn, you really don't listen," Aaron laughed. "He's not my twin."

"He's mine," Will chimed in as he appeared beside Byer. The man swiveled to point the gun at the new threat. He was disarmed in less than ten seconds. Will grinned training the man's own gun on him. He was also holding another gun he no doubt grabbed off one of Byer's lackeys. Or he had it on him. Clint really didn't know… or ask. Will had a thing for guns. It was a lot like Natasha's thing for knives. It was oddly endearing and adorable. Will's grin grew. Clint smirked as Will handed him one of the guns.

"So what were you saying about shooting someone?"

Byer gulped and took a step back only to run into the solid wall of flesh that was Aaron. Clint dragged his chair forward so that the previously gloating former man was surrounded. Byer glared at them, still failing to understand that he was totally and completely screwed. Again. This was the man that Aaron was running from?

"This isn't over," Byer threatened. "You think you did something big in shutting us down? You haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg here. You might have stopped us but more will come."

"Awesome," Clint nodded. "And when they do, we'll shut them down too."

"For every one of you that pops up, we'll be there to cut them down," Will promised. "As far as you're concerned, this is over. You think that Tony screwed you, wait till you meet the rest of our team. That would be the Avengers in case you missed the giant clue by four."

"And you probably did," Clint chimed in. "We have a Hulk. Not to mention a Black Widow." Byer paled. "Yeah, her reputation precedes her as usual."

"Aaron," Byer pleaded, whirling around to face their older brother. "It wasn't that bad, was it? Think about where you were before we came along. You were a retarded nobody. And now you're better than you ever would've been."

Aaron's jaw tensed as he lowered his eyes. "I wasn't a nobody. I've never been nobody. I was and I still am Kenneth. I'm their brother." He looked up and met Byer's gaze with a glare that made Clint happy that none of them could shoot lasers out of their eyes (though that was something to explore with Loki in the future). "If I even think I see you near my brothers again, you'll regret it." He lashed out with a punch that sent Byer crumpling to the ground.

"The bigger they are... well, the bigger they are," Clint laughed, looking at the unconscious figure on the ground.

"You okay?" Will asked, kneeling in front of Clint, eyes roaming over his twin carefully.

"Will, I'm fine. You know that."

"Yeah, I know," Will huffed. He shifted his weight so that he was in a more comfortable crouch. "What do we do with him now?"

"I guess we should call it in," Aaron suggested.

"Ugh," Clint grimaced. "Please call anyone other than Tony, Bruce, Steve, Thor, Phil, Nat, Darcy, Jasper, Jane, Dr. Jane, Benji, Maria or Director Fury."

"So basically don't call anyone that works for SHIELD or is affiliated with the Avengers. Got it. Why now?"

"I'll never hear the end of it and they'll probably try to lock me up for my own protection or whatever. Or they'll never stop making fun of the fact that I got grabbed by a dude in front of a coffee-shop."

"Right, about that. How exactly did that happen? You could've got up at any time. You're not actually confined to that chair. So, why did you stay?" Will asked.

Clint shrugged. "Curiosity?"

"Why the hell were you curious about a guy with a guy waving a gun in your face?" Aaron asked, incredulously.

Clint raised an eyebrow and stuck his hand out. "Hi, my name is Clint Barton. Have you met me?"

Will laughed at the look on Aaron's face. Clint didn't bother to elaborate. He knew Aaron would figure it out eventually. And if he didn't, Will would explain it. And sometimes it really did pay to be the younger brother. Aaron gave him a look like he knew what he was thinking. Clint paused. He probably did.

"You have issues," Aaron said, confirming that he did in fact know exactly what Clint was thinking. The archer grinned. "Anyway, so who are we going to call?"

"Ethan," Will replied. "He's the least likely to have a heart attack about all this."

And that would've been true if Ethan was alone. But it seemed that luck was not in their favor as Ethan was most definitely not alone.

"So which one of you got kidnapped this time? Tony and I are betting that it was Clint as usual. But Bruce seems to think that Will attracts trouble just as much as his twin. Darcy seems pretty convinced it was all three of you."

"Really?" Clint and Will exclaimed in unison as Benji and Jane stepped out the van that Ethan pulled up to the front of the alley they were waiting in. They crossed their arms over their chests and glared at Ethan who was staring at them with wide eyes. "You bought them both with you?"

Ethan frowned. "Have I ever mentioned how creepy it is when you two dress alike and start talking and moving in unison?"

"Several times," they answered. "Pretty much the only reason we do it."

"Okay," Ethan sighed. "Look I know you didn't want to bring anyone else but they were already with me. I couldn't exactly get away without explaining what happened. Just be happened that we weren't back at the Tower or we'd have the whole crew."

"And again I ask which one of you got kidnapped this time?" Benji repeated.

Clint glared at the wheelchair that was now occupied by Byer. After calling Ethan, they realized it would be better to secure Byer somehow. The only question was to how they were supposed to do that while standing in the middle of an alley. The answer came when Will sheepishly handed Aaron a roll of duct tape. Clint honestly had so many questions and he could feel Aaron practically biting his lip not to ask but he kept it to himself. So they used the duct tape that none of them wanted to know why Will was carrying around to tie Byer down. They would've secured the other men as well but a quick check showed that none of them would be moving any time soon. Will really didn't like it when people waved a gun at his brothers. Like at all. Except apparently Sitwell. That guy could actually shoot Clint and Will wouldn't do a damn thing. 

"I wouldn't say kidnapped so much as wheeled into a dark alley by a desperate paper pusher that wanted to execute me because he thought I was him," Clint retorted jabbing a thumb in Aaron's direction. "By the way, I'm officially done with that wheelchair. The next person that suggests I use it ends up like Byer over here."

Ethan and Benji both rolled their eyes but set about hauling the bodies of Byer's backup into the waiting van. Clint was about to comment on the fact that Will and Aaron were totally capable of helping when he noticed that Will was very much occupied at the moment.

"You're sure you're not hurt?" Jane asked, standing way closer to Will than was completely necessary… per the usual. Clint smirked.

"Yes," Will smiled softly. "You know it wasn't was me that was 'wheeled into a dark alley', right?"

"No, but it was you taking on at least four armed men," Jane countered. She tilted his head from side to side, silently examining him. She smiled when she found no trace of any damage. "You need to take care of yourself."

"I try," Will murmured. "But I'm fine, okay?"

"So why didn't you want me to find out?"

"Because I knew that you would worry and I'm fine."

"Of course I worry about you," Jane argued. "You worry about me, right?"

Will flushed. "Yeah, but that's…" he trailed off. His hand lifted to mirror her position hovering over his cheek. "Yeah, I get it. Sorry."

"It's okay. I'm just glad you're not hurt."

"Me too," Will whispered in response.

They trailed off as they leaned even further into one another's space. Any closer and they would be the same person. Not that either of them would've minded. Clint rolled his eyes. He would never understand why neither of those two idiots would make a move. It was beyond obvious to even the most oblivious individuals that they were both clearly interested in one another. Yet neither of them would act on it. It was frustrating and kind of annoying.

"And they say I'm the damaged one," Clint grumbled.

"You know," Aaron started, leaning over Clint's shoulder. "In the movies, this would be the part where they're supposed to be kissing."

"You'll learn. Those two have some sort of defective setting that prevents them from acting on their obvious unspoken sexual tension."

"Has anyone ever thought about just telling them?"

"We tried," Clint sighed. "It's hopeless. Benji and Tony even did a PowerPoint presentation once detailing all the ways in which they're pissing us off with their crap. It literally went in one ear and out the other for Jane. I don't think it even registered for Will. He's got some serious interpersonal relationship issues." Aaron raised an eyebrow, looking at Clint incredulously. The archer narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, I know what I just said. Now just try imagine how emotionally screwed up you have to be if even I think you have problems."

Clint could see the smile that Aaron was trying to fight. He could also see the moment where he gave up the fight. Clint beamed with pride as he watched his oldest brother giggling like a child. Aaron didn't laugh nearly enough. He made a mental note to fix that as soon as possible. But for now he could just bask in the fact that he reduced Aaron to a giggling mess while simultaneously annoying the heck of Will who was now glaring daggers at his brothers.

"I hate you two so much sometimes."

"It's not nice to lie to yourself, Willy," Aaron retorted. "You love us all of the time." Will rolled his eyes but his lips wouldn't stop twitching into a smile.

"You're both idiots."

"Yes, but we're your idiots," Clint countered. "Separately we're pretty great but together we're awesome. We're the Triad of Awesome."

"Oh, does that mean we get a secret handshake? I kind of always wanted a secret handshake," Aaron said.

"No," Will cut him off. "No, secret handshakes! Isn't it enough that we all look alike?"

"But…" Aaron trailed off with a pout in place. Will's left eye twitched. His mouth opened like he wanted to say something more but he cut himself off, chewing on his lip. Clint smirked. Will was such a pushover sometimes under the sibling induced pressure.

"We can get cool rings," Clint offered. He watched as his twin's resistances and determination to act like an adult collapsed. Clint would question why he even bothered, but honestly someone needed to be an adult and Clint firmly claimed 'not it' on that years ago.

"Okay," Will replied, a grudging smile forming on his lips. "Maybe we can have a secret handshake. But only if they're cool decoder type rings. I always wanted one of those."

"Awesome!"

"Oh my god," Ethan muttered, still loud enough for them to hear. "There really are three of them. The world is doomed."

"Aaron, remind me to drop another wheelchair on Ethan's car," Clint murmured. "Also remind me to use the one with Byer in it."

"But of course."

Yeah, this triplet thing was pretty awesome. It was made even more apparent when Will finally handed him a cup of still warm coffee. He also held up a large white box full of something sweet smelling that bore the words, 'sorry for earlier. Please don't shoot us', in Will's neat precise handwriting. There was even a smiley face next to the writing.

"Can't forget our bribe."

"He's not really going to shoot us….right?"

"It's Sitwell. He's like a postal worker. He'll put up with all the rain, sleet, snow and alien invasion crap only for so long. Then boom something like genetically engineered triplets falls on his lap and he's snapping. I for one am not getting shot. I've fulfilled my quota for the year."

"I would ask you why you even have a quota but I remember that you and Clint came from the same egg. That explains it all."

"How is it that I still get blamed even when it's Will being a weirdo?"

"Same egg," Will and Aaron repeated in unison.

Clint grinned. Yeah, this triplet thing was definitely going to work out just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end of this little saga. Originally I had planned for it to go on for more chapters. But back when I wrote this story (2013!), I experienced a lot of personal problems that caused me to lose interest in writing. I've made a sort of comeback lately and revamping this story is just the beginning. Soon I'll be posting the collection of stories _All For One_ which contains continuations of the Gemini Protocol/Trouble with Triples storylines as well as a bunch of 'What Ifs' putting the triplets into different movie plots. So that being said, I hope you all enjoyed. Thanks so much for the comments, views and kudos!!


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